How Can I Tell You I Love You
by Aquagirl15
Summary: Rin is an aspiring singer & song writer trying to get herself known. Haru is a laid back kind of guy who doesn't always play by the rules. When Rin starts to fall in love with him, she wonders 'How can I tell him I love him'
1. Chapter 1

HowCan I Tell You I Love You?

_Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the stars refuse to shine. Out of the back you fall in time. I somehow find, you and I collide. _

-Howie Day, 'Collide'

Chapter One

I took a deep breath and checked the tuning of my guitar one more time. I was standing backstage at a coffee-shop on open mic night. I was slightly nervous, I always was, but I'd done this enough to know that my nerves would go away the moment I started playing. The boy who had been performing came back behind the curtain and gave me a blank look. He had read gothic poetry, and I was pretty sure I could top that. I strummed a cord as he walked away, mocking him a bit, and headed out on stage. I was enveloped in the blue and purple light that lit the stage from above. I made my way over to the microphone and adjusted it to my height. I looked around the crowd briefly and saw Kagura sitting near the stage waving at me. With her was a boy whom I vaguely recognized, but didn't give much thought to at the time.

I placed my hands on the guitar and played the first note of my song. By the time I got through the intro of the song and started singing my nerves were far behind. I'd sung this song so many times that I could play it in my sleep. It was one of the first songs I had written, which was why I loved it so much. People had started clapping in time with the beat of the song, but I hardly noticed. I was in my world, the one I could only access through my music. There critics and fans didn't exist. It was _just_ the music.

The last note of my song echoed slightly in the large room and then people began to clap, not just politely, but approvingly. I smiled and walked off the stage. I found my guitar case among the other people waiting to go on and also my school bag. I had just latched my case shut when someone grabbed me around the neck.

"K-Kagura," I coughed. "Stop strangling me!"

"Hehe, sorry." She said, letting go. "Oh! I brought someone with me for you to meet. This is Hatsuharu-kun; he's also a Sohma who goes to our high school, a freshman." I nodded to him. Now I knew why I recognized him before on the stage. Hatsuharu gave me a peace sign and said;

"I prefer Haru, thanks." Now I actually looked at Haru instead of just treating him like a background person. I was surprised to see that his taste in clothing was a lot like mine.

He wore a white muscle shirt with a black leather jacket over it. The jacket was kind of worn, like he'd had it a long time, but it went well with his faded blue jeans. He had on black combat boots too. But it wasn't his outfit that made him appealing, it was his accessories. Haru had about three dog tags dangling from his neck, all on different lengths of silver chain. He had the sleeves of his jacket rolled up which enabled me to see that he had a black wrist band on with a picture of a guitar on it. On the other wrist he had a spiked leather bracelet. As I looked up to his face I noticed that his ears were pierced, twice on one ear and once on the other. He had two silver studs in the ear that was pierced twice and a thin silver hoop on the other. And finally there was his hair. It was black at the roots, but the hair that spiked out in all directions was white.

"Nice hair," I told him with a smile, and I truly did think it was cute. Haru chuckled.

"Year of the ox." He explained. I nodded and picked up my school bag and slung my guitar case strap over my shoulder and gave Kagura a look. She gave me a mischievous smile that I didn't like.

"Haru-kun have you eaten?" she asked.

"Nah, I was gonna go home and throw sumthin' in the oven." He replied, shrugging and putting his hands in his pockets.

"We should all go somewhere!" Kagura said excitedly. Haru nodded, but he wasn't looking at Kagura. He was looking at me, I could feel his gaze on me from the moment Kagura had introduced him. It wasn't as if he had a reason to stare either. I wasn't revealing anything because I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The jeans were black and a bit tight, but not enough so to make him stare. My shirt was grey with silver stars sprinkled on it and the whole shirt had a faded look to it.

Kagura was now looking at me expectantly and I broke out of the daze staring at Haru staring at me had put me in.

"I don't care." I told her plainly.

"Yay!" Kagura grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the exit. "Haru-kun, do you need a ride?" Haru looked a little perplexed at everything, but shook his head.

"I've got a bike." He told her.

"A bike?! No, no let us drive you in Rin-chan's car." I pulled my hand out of her grasp and said exasperatedly;

"He means a motorcycle Kagura, sheesh you can be dim." Haru chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, that is what I mean Kagura-san." I reached into my pants pocket and handed the keys to Kagura.

"You drive the car; I want to ride with Haru. If that's ok with you I mean." I said, turning to him.

"Fine by me, I can't complain about having a pretty girl riding with me." He smirked. My cheeks turned slightly pink, but I nodded and followed him out of the back entrance and to his motorcycle. Kagura pursued us and told Haru;

"Follow me and I'll lead you to the place we're eating. I know Rin likes it there and pretty much everyone else I know does too cause you can eat, like, anything." I rolled my eyes at her secretiveness but decided not to say anything. I watched Kagura walk over to our car and then turned to Haru.

He was rummaging in one of the bike's side bags and came up with a spare helmet. He handed it to me and I flipped it to the back examine it's design. Most the helmet was black but it had purple flames on the side and some swirls on the back. I looked up from this helmet and glanced at Haru. His helmet was black also but with a small jet of white and light blue flame starting from above the ear and going around to the back of his head.

"Ready to go?" He asked, putting his helmet on.

"Oh… yeah, sorry about that." Haru chuckled.

"No problem. I get a lot of stares." I nodded and put his spare helmet on before climbing onto the bike behind him.

"Have you ever ridden before?" He asked looking back at me through the shaded visor on his helmet.

"Actually, no." I replied, feeling slightly ashamed. But Haru smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, just hold on tight cause I don't think you're the type that wants me to ride easy even if you're a beginner."

I shook my head.

"You got that right." I told him, grinning despite myself. Haru turned back to the handle bars and started the engine.

"Alright, hold on!" He yelled over the noise. And then without any further warning, Haru stepped on the gas and we bounded out of the parking lot after Kagura. I gasped slightly at the speed and grabbed Haru around the waist. He glanced back at me with a grin on his face and I couldn't help but smile at him as well.

Haru followed Kagura to the restaurant/dance club. It was geared towards underage teens, which meant that it didn't serve alcohol. However, it was fun to hang out there because they served good food and the owner liked us. Kagura had picked the perfect spot for us to go because even if you didn't want to eat there, you could dance and even sometimes sing karaoke. I could hear the thumps of the music coming from the club even over the wind and the motorcycle engine. For some reason I was really excited and I didn't usually enjoy being surrounded by a lot of people unless I was singing.

Haru slowed down and parked in a spot close to the entrance. Kagura had to circle around the parking lot for awhile to find a space. That gave me and Haru time to take our helmets off and straighten ourselves out before going into the club.

"Your hair is everywhere." Haru commented with a slight laugh. He reached out to push some misplaced strands back into place. But I moved away from him and fixed them myself using the mirror on the side of his motorcycle. In truth I was trying to hide my blush. I scolded myself for being so silly. I just met Haru, why should he be affecting me like this? I was possessed to blame him, the way he was acting. He was being very… forward with me. Not in the way that I wanted him to stop, but I could tell that he liked me.

Kagura caught up with us outside the restaurant and we all went in together. The awkward moment that had just passed between me and Haru was forgotten for the time being. Haru held the door open for me and Kagura and we entered the dim club. The volume of the music hit us like a wave when we entered. Kagura led the way to a booth and suggested we eat before we danced. We all ordered a big pizza to share. However, the food was soon gone and I was faced with the idea that this whole thing was just another one of Kagura's schemes to hook me up with a guy. It hadn't occurred to me at first because I had liked Haru so much, but now I saw what she had in mind.

Slow dances. Every two hours they played slow songs that weren't called couple dances but everyone treated them like one. Kagura surely had planned for me to dance with Haru for one of these dances. But I had an idea that would completely freak her out, as long as Haru was willing to cooperate. I had a feeling I would have no trouble with that.

We waited until our table was cleared and then Kagura was pushing us onto the dance floor. It was easy to fall into the beat of a fast paced techno song. However I was constantly aware of Haru's movements near me. It might just be the slight brush of his arm against mine or the way he drew close and appeared like he would wrap his arms around me but then drew away at the last moment. And the funny thing was that I was almost sure he knew that I knew he was teasing me. I was so confused by him, but that was also why I felt drawn to him. I wanted to figure him out. But mostly I wanted to tell him my plan to freak Kagura out.

"Haru," I said, dancing closer to him and putting my hand on his chest, then pushing him away teasingly.

"Yes?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at my teasing. I waved for him to lean in closer. Kagura was occupied with another school friend at the moment so she didn't notice us.

"I want to play a trick on Kagura. You see, she's always trying to hook me up with guys, but you're the first one I've actually liked." I could see Haru's taken aback look as he listened to me talk. I decided to overlook the fact that I had just told him something I didn't just come out and say to anyone. I explained my plan to him and we decided we would put it into action right away.

AN: for this particular story I thought it would look better if I put the author's notes at the end of the chapters. Disclaimers will also be put here too. I know this is so OOC that it's almost AU, but we don't know that much about Rin so I almost have to guess what she was like before she got pushed out the window. I hope I did ok.

Disclaimers: I don't own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya takes care of that. I also don't own the song 'Collide' by Howie Day.


	2. Chapter 2

_ It's about life, it's about fun. It's over before it has begun. It's about you, it's about me. It's about everything between…_

Lillix 'It's About Time'

Chapter 2

Kagura turned back to us after talking to her friend for a few minutes. As we listened to Kagura babble, Haru and I were listening intently to the music. In order to start my plan there had to be a slow song playing. According to a luminescent clock on the wall, they should be playing one next. I shared a smile with Haru as the three of us continued to dance as a group. But soon the current song faded and the beat of the new song came over the speakers. This one was much slower, as I had hoped. It wasn't a ballroom slow song that put you to sleep, it had a good beat but it was definitely a lot slower than the other songs had been.

"Oh… go dance you two I want to get something to drink." Kagura said unconvincingly. However instead of complaining like I usually did, I shrugged and allowed Haru to take my hand as planned. We watched Kagura walk in the direction of the bar, but then she doubled back to spy on us like I knew she would. But this time I had a bit of a show to put on for her.

Haru and I started dancing closely to the song 'It's About Time'. I recognized it after I had some time to listen to it. But then we started getting closer than I had planned. I looked up at Haru and saw that it wasn't his fault. The people around us were pushing us closer together. Haru gave me an apologetic look, but he didn't look like he was very upset at the fact that he was close to me. But then again, why would he? Why would any guy complain?

The song ended and by that time I was truly flustered. It had been so long since I had found a guy I liked enough to even let him touch me. But here I was, in the arms of a guy I had only really known for a few hours. Haru didn't let me go after the song ended either. Instead he bent his head to whisper in my ear.

"I really liked your song before." He told me and then he pulled away. He began walking off the dance floor and over to the booth we had sat at to eat. Once I had regained control of my emotions I went after him.

"Now wait just a minute." I said accusingly. "What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

"Why are you teasing me like this?" Haru sighed and averted his gaze from mine.

"Because I really do like you Rin. You may not have known me well all this time but I've known you. I pay attention to things. It's the least I can do, being forced to live on the inside. I've admired you for awhile now, and I've been looking for a reason to talk to you, to spend a day with you. I couldn't stop myself from teasing you like this because it's just in my nature. I don't mean to upset you when I do it."

I blushed deeply at his words. I didn't realize that was why he was messing with my head. Haru stood up.

"C'mon, let's put the finishing touch on you plan. Whadaya say?" My hand rose to my mouth in shock, but then I shook it off.

"Why couldn't you have saved the confession for after the end of the plan?" I asked jokingly. Haru chuckled.

"Maybe because I wanted you to know that I liked you and that I wasn't just going to kiss you because of the plan." He replied. "Normally I wouldn't kiss a girl on my first date with her, and normally I wouldn't call something like this a date, but this is far from normal." He smiled cutely at me and I allowed him to take my hand and pull me back to the dance floor.

We spotted Kagura nearby and made sure she was watching us. She was even within earshot, which was nice. Haru wrapped an arm around my waist and said;

"I've had a great time tonight Rin, and I really like you." He told me. I blushed at him, even though that wasn't part of the plan. "I'm glad that I came to open-mic night." I laughed and allowed him to lead me closer to Kagura, but also closer to the door. Haru glanced at me and I gave him a small nod. The plan was for him to kiss my cheek and then I would leave with him on his motorcycle. He'd take me home and then we'd have a good laugh about this whole thing the next day at school. But Haru had other plans.

He kissed me full on the lips. My eyes widened and the first thing that went through my head was 'why? I trusted you not to do something I didn't like'. But as my eyes closed I realized that my trust for him was still intact because I _did_ like him kissing me. Haru broke the kiss and grinned at me.

"You adjusted to that improvise very well." He told me as we walked out the door. I punched him in the arm.

"That wasn't part of the plan!" I told him, trying to be angry at him. Haru chuckled.

"Hence the word 'improvise'." He replied, leaning up against the wall near his motorcycle. "Besides if you were really mad you wouldn't have kissed me back." I opened my mouth to argue, but found I couldn't deny what he had said.

"C'mon, it's getting late, I should get you home."

"Don't lie." I said mockingly. "You just want me to wrap my arms around you."

"Well there is that." He agreed. "So do you trust me enough to get you home safely?" I nodded. "Alright then." He walked over to his bike and took out the helmets, handing me the purple flamed one. I pulled my hair back with a pony-tail holder I had on my wrist and waited for him to get on the bike before me.

When Haru got himself situated I sat down behind him and wrapped my arms around his stomach. I smiled to myself and rested my head on his shoulder. I was tired, but I was also teasing Haru. I wondered, if we ever did get together, would our relationship just be us trying to best each other? I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to clear my head of these thoughts. _You just met the guy today Rin! Don't turn into one of those movie girls who fall for the guy on sight! _

"You ready?" Haru's voice caught through my thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry." I told him. Haru took off through the parking lot and out onto the road. As I got used to riding again, I loosened my grip on Haru and began to look around. I laughed as he took a turn at high speed, but gripped him tighter at the same time.

"You live with Kagura right?" He yelled over the noise of the wind and the motorcycle.

"Yes." I replied just as loud.

As we got closer to Kagura's house and the thrill of riding started dying down a bit, I began to feel tired again. By the time we reached the house I was almost asleep. I felt the bike stop and Haru let go of the handle bars. He didn't move to wake me though, he just sat there, perhaps watching me, and waited for me to raise my head. I did this reluctantly and found him looking over his shoulder at me. I let him go and he turned around to face me. The visor on his helmet was still over his face so it was hard to tell what expression he was wearing. I took the helmet I was wearing off and shook my head in an effort to get my hair in a comfortable position.

Haru pushed the helmet visor up and smiled at me. I returned it sleepily.

"Here," I said, handing him the helmet.

"Keep it." Haru replied. "If luck's on my side you might need it later." I blushed and pulled it back.

"Thanks for everything Haru, I had a great night." I told him sincerely. "And I would love to ride with you again sometime." Then I did something very out of character. I kissed Haru's cheek before climbing off the bike and hurrying to the front door of Kagura's house. I didn't want Haru to see how embarrassed I was. I heard him laugh quietly.

"Good night to you too, Rin." I stood there waiting to hear him leave, but he didn't he was watching me. I unlocked the door and went inside, climbing the stairs and flopping down on my bed with a grin on my face. I set the helmet Haru had… given to me? Let me borrow? I didn't know. All that mattered to me was that it reminded me of him. Anyway I set it down on my bedside table and got dressed for bed. I was sound asleep before Kagura ever got home.

AN: Ok, yay for chapter two! n.n I've got up to chapter six written on this story so there's really no excuse for the wait except that I'm lazy and didn't want to get my laptop out. Anyway, new chapter will be up soon.

Disclaimers: I don't own Fruits Basket or Howie Day's song 'Collide'.


	3. Chapter 3

_Cause every time I look you're never there. And every time I sleep you're always there. Cause you're everywhere to me. When I close my eyes it's you I see. You're everything I know that makes me believe I'm not alone. _

Michelle Branch 'Everywhere'

Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning feeling immensely happy. I picked up my journal and wrote a few sentences down to explain what had happened, but I knew I wouldn't forget in a hurry. The only reason I had a journal was because I would often go back and look at what I had written before and find a song within the past. But right now I was thinking of a song for what had just happened last night. I grabbed a pair of jean shorts out of a drawer and a T-shirt out of my closet and headed to the shower.

I crept out of my room quietly, hoping Kagura was still in bed. I didn't see any sign out her so I walked to the bathroom feeling relieved. I didn't want to bother with her right now. I liked Kagura, even though she was a bit annoying. But she was always looking out for me. I'd spent so many years with her she had started feeling like a sister to me. I shut and locked the bathroom door behind me and turned the water on.

Once it was a suitable temperature, I stepped in and tilted my head up to the shower head. The water felt great on my cheeks. Once my hair was completely wet I got on with my shower. I wasn't one for long, drawn-out showers. I had better things to do with my time. I got out of the shower a few minutes later, dried off, and dressed quickly. I went downstairs for some breakfast and was surprised to see that Kagura was still not up.

"Did Kagura get up and leave or something?" I asked Kagura's mom when I entered the kitchen.

"Nope, she's still in bed. You guys were out late last night so I'm not surprised." I shrugged and helped myself to a Pop-tart. By the time I had finished two, Kagura had come down the stairs still in her pajamas. Her hair was disheveled and she gave me a look.

"What?" I asked, smirking at her from my position sitting on the counter. At that moment Kagura's mom decided to leave. I guess she didn't want to get involved.

"You know perfectly well what!" she yelled, stomping over to me. "You kissed Haru last night, start explaining!"

"Actually he kissed me."

"That's not the point! The point is that you kissed a guy only a few hours after you met him."

"It was supposed to be a joke." I said, looking away from her. "The truth is that I was trying to freak you out and I told Haru to kiss me on the cheek. But he decided to kiss my lips."

"Oh my God!" Kagura screamed excitedly. "He likes you, I knew it!"

"Now hang on just a minute. I never said I liked him back."

"I can tell you do." She replied, winking and grabbing the Pop-tart I had just opened out of my hand. "You've already had two of these, don't wanna get fat or Haru won't think you're sexy anymore."

"Hey…what? He said that?"

"You can definitely tell he thinks it. Did you notice him staring at you when we were backstage?" She asked, taking a bite out of the Pop-tart. I looked away from her, nodding. There was a silence in which I realized I was acting like a love-sick teenager.

"Dammit I can't stop thinking about him." I cursed. Kagura giggled.

"Don't worry about it. If you like him, it's fine, and if you don't it'll pass once you get over the shock of him kissing you."

"I guess so." I said, still not looking at her. I hopped off the counter and walked over to the stairs.

"I'm going out." I told her. "I think I'll go to the mall or something and take my mind off things. I've been wanting a smoothie from the bar in the food court anyway."

"Alright," Kagura replied. "I might join in a little while if you don't mind." I shrugged.

"Fine by me, besides, if I do end up deciding to look for a new swimsuit I'll need someone's opinion on how it looks right?" I teased her. Last year Kagura had dragged me to almost every swimsuit shop in the city looking for something that fit her perfectly. She never stopped stressing on how important it was to have a second opinion on things like swimsuits.

I ran up to my room for my purse and some shoes. I left, putting some sunglasses on and shutting the door behind me. I had decided to walk to the mall since it wasn't very far away from the house. Besides, if Kagura ended up coming she'd need the car to take all the stuff she bought home.

It was a nice, slightly windy spring-summer-ish day. It was warm, but not humid, and the breeze felt refreshing. My hair fanned out behind me a bit as I walked. I was happy to be getting away from the house and even Kagura for awhile. I reminded myself that there were only a few more weeks until school was out and I could spend time like this every day.

I arrived at the mall about ten minutes later and headed straight for the food court. It was eleven-ish which meant that people were just starting to get lunch. I got in line for a smoothie and once I had it I started to wander around the mall. I didn't really have a place in mind to go, I just wanted to be doing something.

I passed by Hot Topic, thinking I might see if they had anything I liked on sale there, when I caught a glimpse of a boy with black and white hair. _Dammit again! _I thought. He was everywhere! If I couldn't escape him physically, I thought about him constantly. And if I wasn't thinking about him I ran into him. Well I did this one time anyway. I think I'm over exaggerating.

I ducked quickly away from the store and hurried into the once across from it. I think it was an Old Navy or something like that. Haru's back had been towards the entrance of the store, so he hadn't noticed me. For now. I watched him from the window of the Old Navy. When he came out there was a little girl with light orange hair and strange eyes with him. I knew she was from the zodiac, the tiger. I had forgotten her name though.

She pointed to the store I was in and I began to panic slightly. I didn't want to talk to him right now, but at the same time I wanted him to find me. I couldn't make up my mind and it was driving me crazy. In the end, I decided to be pretending to look at a display of tank-tops. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Haru and the girl enter and she pulled him towards the back where the children's clothes were.

But he stopped her when he noticed me.

"You go on ahead Kisa," He told her. "I see one of my friends and I'd like to talk to her for a little bit." Kisa nodded and walked off to the back of the store alone.

"That's not your sister is it?" I asked.

"Nope, she's just another zodiac kid I've kinda taken a liking to." He glanced up at me with a smile on his face. "It's good to see you again. I thought I'd go insane if I couldn't talk to you at least once more before the weekend was over."

"Why?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that he felt the same way I did.

"Do I need a reason other than the fact that I like you?" he countered. I shrugged.

"Whatever you think, I guess."

"I think that you're an amazing person, Rin. I really want to get to know you."

I blushed deeply and looked away from him, pretending to check the price on one of the tank-tops. However, he followed me, stepping closer and looking over my shoulder to try and see my face.

"Don't hide it." He said, smirking.

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked defiantly.

"Because I know you're doing it, whether you hide it or not." He replied simply.

Well, I couldn't disagree with that. Now that I thought about it, it must have been very obvious when I suddenly turned away from him. Haru's closeness was starting to get to me, but for some reason I was rooted to the spot.

"Urm," I said, looking for a way out. Haru took hold of my wrist and shook his head.

"I know that look. Don't try to escape Rin or else I might start thinking you don't like me." He told me mischievously.

"I-I," I stuttered. "I'm sorry, I've just… I've just never felt like this before."

"Is it bad?" Haru asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. _He looks so cute like that._ I couldn't help thinking.

"Well… no, it's just-"

"Then what is there to worry about? If you like the feelings, and I sure as hell do, then what's wrong with it?" I looked up at him, speechless, my face feeling very warm. I took deep breathes and shook my head.

"Nothing," I replied semi-calmly. Haru smiled.

"Good, I'm glad we understand each other." He said, letting go of my wrist and turning away.

Suddenly I wished he hadn't. The air around me felt empty and chilled the moment he moved away. I could still feel the pressure of his hand on my wrist, but I missed the warmth. Haru had started walking towards the back of the store. I hurried to catch up with him and hugged him from behind. Haru stopped abruptly as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry… I have to go." I told him after a few moments of holding him.

"I'll talk to you later then." He replied, smiling as he turned around.

"Yeah…" I nodded and hurried out of the store.

AN: I finally stopped being lazy and uploaded chapter three. Four's here too. Oh, tomorrow is my last day of school so I should be willing to write and update more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or Michelle Branch's _Everywhere_.


	4. Chapter 4

_Friday night, baby are you sleeping? Friday night, my heart is still beating. It's alright, curfew's gonna break my heart. So come and meet me in the dark. Friday night, you're under the covers. Friday night, we could be lovers. _

Click 5 'Friday Night'

Chapter 4

Not too long after my encounter with Haru, my cell phone began to ring. It was Kagura, asking me where I had gotten to. I told her I was headed to JC Penny's to check out their swimsuits and she should meet me there if she wanted to. Kagura came up behind me as I was searching through a rack, and poked me in the sides. I jumped and blushed, thinking it might be Haru back again. I was getting seriously paranoid because of that guy.

Kagura laughed and smiled at me.

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd freak out like that." She said apologetically.

"It's no problem I'm just a little… skittish right now." Kagura gave me a confused look.

"Skittish, why?"

"I don't want to explain." I replied, turning away from her and back to the swimsuits.

"Ok," Kagura said, joining me in my search.

About an hour later we came out of the store with two shopping bags. Mine had two swimsuits in it. One was a tankini that was a purple-ish color. It reminded me a bit of rich, deep red wine. The kind of wine that was so dark it didn't really look red. The other was a brown bikini with a halter top and boy shorts. This one had a design of a butterfly in white on one side of the top.

I had no idea what Kagura had bought. I had stopped keeping track after the first swimsuit and collection of T-shirts. I was ready to leave by now, but I knew Kagura would never want to leave so soon. She hadn't been there as long as I had and she also couldn't leave the mall without buying at least fifty dollars worth of stuff. Right now she was only up to thirty. But maybe I'm exaggerating again.

I walked home by myself and left Kagura to her shopping. _At least I managed to waste a few hours. _I thought, checking my cell phone for the time. When I got home I made some lunch and wasted a few more hours watching TV. By that time Kagura had arrived home and we hung out around the house until about four o'clock. Then I went up to my room and flipped through my journal, trying to come up with some ideas for a new song. I didn't like singing the same song for more than a few shows and none of my old songs were appealing to me at the moment.

I knew I was wasting my time. The thing I really wanted to sing about I wouldn't let myself think about. It drove me crazy to realize he was what I wanted to sing about too. I really was falling for him, and I didn't know what to do. I'd never really, truly liked any of the guys I'd been out with before. And when I say 'guys' I mean like two.

Now I know it's kinda early in the story for me to be saying 'I'm falling for him', but I can't figure out any other way to describe it. Thinking about him made my heart speed up and my cheeks turn pink. And since all I had been doing recently was thinking about him, people must think I'm sick or something. That night I finally realized, this isn't going to pass. I'm not just freaking out because he kissed me, this is the real deal.

I felt that was somehow important and I wrote it down in my journal. I began to doodle around what I'd written. A few minutes later I lifted my pencil and looked at what I had drawn. Music notes, hearts, stars, and flowers surrounded my latest journal entry. All of these doodles had a faint gothic look about them because that's just the way I am. The hearts had unsymmetrical curves to them and the roses had sharp looking thorns. I smiled despite myself, and closed my journal.

I set the journal down on my lap and leaned back up against the pillows on my bed. I guess I spaced out a bit because I didn't notice when Kagura came into my room.

"Hey Rin," She said and I jumped.

"Oh, hi Kagura, you startled me again." I said, shaking my head. Kagura smiled.

"Don't worry about it. You seem to be spacing out quite a lot lately. Anyway, I came up to ask you if you wanted dinner."

"Oh, sure." I stood up slowly and followed Kagura out of my room.

Dinner was an awkward thing. It usually was. Even after all these years I've never been comfortable at dinner with Kagura and her mom. But I still joined them the majority of the time because I didn't want Kagura's mom to think I hated her. Actually it was the opposite. I was very thankful that she had taken me in like she did. I just didn't know how to put my thanks into words.

After dinner I went back up to my room and lay down on my bed again. I kept thinking over and over again about all the things that had happened in the past few days. My cheeks turned slightly pink as I remembered Haru's kiss and how good it felt when I wrapped my arms around him earlier that day. My musings must have drifted off into real sleep because the next thing I remembered was a sharp tap-tap coming from somewhere outside.

I lifted my head off my pillows blearily and squinted at my clock. It was ten-thirty. The tap came again and I sat up, searching my room for the source of the sound. My eyes finally fell on the window that was on the wall to the left of my bed. I stood up and crossed the space between my bed and the window quickly. I pulled back the curtains and opened the blinds and saw Haru grinning at me from behind the closed window.

I gasped and threw my window open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed in a kind of yelling whisper.

"Nice to see you too." He replied, rolling his eyes at me but still grinning. "You busy?"

"Well I _was_ sleeping, but you remedied that. What do you want?" I knew I was being rude. I knew I was putting him off. I was scared. I was scared of him and the feelings he aroused in me. I was scared of what might happen if we spent more time together. _I was scared of falling in love with him. _But I knew it was happening.

Haru paid no mind to my words. He loosened the screws on the screen of my window and pushed it into my room. He climbed into my room through the now empty window and straightened up, his body very close to mine. I blushed and retreated to my bed, trying not to look at him. I sat down facing away from the window thinking; _Haru is in my room. At night. Everyone else is in bed, asleep. What happens next?_

I felt Haru sit down beside me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his spiky white hair and could tell by its position that Haru was looking at me.

"Do you not want me to be here?" he asked in a mock hurt voice. I turned around to face him, shaking my head.

"I do… but I don't. It's hard to explain." I said, rubbing my arms. "It's kinda weird when the guy you can't stop thinking about comes into your room in the middle of the night. You have no idea what's going through my head right now." Dammit… the things he makes me say. But Haru chuckled and replied;

"You think things like that aren't goin' through my head too?" I shifted so I was sitting cross-legged in front of him. I shrugged.

"Is that any different than what's usually going through guys' heads anyway?" I teased.

"Well… no but that's not the point." I laughed at him. Haru reached up and cupped my cheek with his hand suddenly. I gasped and started to draw away, but then leaned in closer.

"I like your eyes." He said, staring at my face. I couldn't tell if I was blushing or if it was the heat from Haru's hand that made my face warm. It was probably a combination of both. This time, however, I didn't pull away from him until he let me go. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, but I smiled faintly at him.

"You're more trusting of me." He remarked.

"I'm getting more comfortable with the idea that I like you and you like me too. I'm also starting to realize that even though my first instinct is to pull away from you, I'd actually rather stay still until I find out what you're going to do."

Haru smiled mischievously. He turned his hand over so it was palm up and began rubbing my arm with the back of his hand. I glanced down at his hand, and then to his face. He leaned in closer to me and whispered;

"Are you going to stick around for this?" I blinked at him for a few moments before nodding.

I waited, my heart pounding, to see what he would do next. For awhile he just continued moving his hand up and down my arm. Then he moved his hand and brushed the tips of my hair. He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ears, trying to get a better look at my face I suppose. Then he buried his hand in the hair on the back of my head. I stretched my legs out to either side of his body and smiled up at him, letting my head rest in his hand.

Haru wasn't expecting this and fell forward slightly. His chest brushed lightly against mine for a moment before he regained his balance. He shifted himself so he was on his knees, bending over me slightly. I smiled almost timidly up at him. He pulled his hand out of my hair slowly so my head wouldn't fall. He supported himself above me with his arms now. I leaned back so I was lying against the pillows; I wasn't lying completely flat, but I wasn't sitting up anymore either.

"You're a freshman, right?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, why?" Haru replied. It sounded like he was trying very hard to keep his voice steady. I shrugged.

"I just wondered. You've never done anything like this before have you?" I ventured to ask.

"No, but I don't think you have either." He answered with a smirk.

"Touché, right in one I suppose." Haru shook his head, still smiling.

"You're really something, you know that?"

"Why do you say that?"

"You're the only girl I've met that could make a conversation while a guy is bending over her like this." I shrugged.

"It makes me stop thinking about the fact that you are bending over me. You seemed like you didn't really know what you were going to do next so I decided to start a conversation. I guess talking doesn't really give you time to think though."

"You want me to do something?" Haru asked playfully.

"Only if you want to." I stuck my tongue out at him.

In retaliation it seemed, he bent down and kissed me deeply on the mouth. My mouth opened slightly in surprise but I kissed him back. Haru was taken aback by the fact that my mouth was still open and that I was kissing him back. His tongue brushed against mine suddenly, and I pulled away from him in shock. He looked down at me as I stared up at him. He took a deep breath and sat back on his heels.

"Sorry," He mumbled. I shook my head at him. I put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him back down to kiss me again. I had no idea what had come over me. All the thinking about him and wanting him there and pushing him away when he was there… it drove me crazy. Haru didn't understand it either, but I knew he wasn't about to complain. I released his neck, knowing I didn't have to hold him there anymore, but instead I grabbed hold of the fabric of his shirt and balled it into my hand.

After awhile I pulled away from him. I released his shirt and put my hand on his chest, pushing at him gently to sit up. He did so, rather reluctantly, and got up off the bed. He fixed his clothes and glanced over at me. I smiled shyly at him.

"You should probably go home now." I whispered.

"Yeah… see ya Monday then."

"Hang on," I said, grabbing his wrist to stop him from leaving. He turned back to look at me. I picked up my journal and pulled my pen out from inside it. I scribbled some numbers on the back of his hand.

"This is my cell phone number. Now if you want to see me, call me instead of breaking into my bedroom in the middle of the night."

"Will do." Haru replied, examining the back of his hand when I let go of his wrist. "But you have to admit, breaking in is a lot more fun." He winked at me, climbed out of the window, and was gone. I walked over to the window and watched him walking away from the house. When he was out of sight, I put the screen back in my window, closed it, shut the blinds, and got back into bed.

I could still see him sitting there on the bed next to me. I could feel his hand on my cheek. My lips burned with the feel of his kisses. As I lay there in the bed, I almost felt as if he were still hovering over me. I fell asleep with these sweet images in my head, realizing something just before I dropped off to sleep. _We've crossed the threshold, and there's no way to go but forward now. _I thought. _Well, at least things will be getting interesting. _

AN: Chapter four, as promised. Also, a side note, I'm kinda looking for a beta reader for this story. Anyone wanna help me out? Let me know in a review or e-mail. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Fruits Basket or the song _Friday Night _by Click Five.


	5. Chapter 5

_When you hear us say yes, sometimes it means no. We'll tell you to stop when we want you to go. I know that we're different, but we're all the same, it's all in the games that we play. _

Play 'A Girl's Mind'

Chapter 5

"How did you get my locker number?" I asked. I'm sure you know who I'm talking to. Haru had popped up next to me while I was getting my books out of my locker. When I had shut it I'd jumped in surprise upon seeing him. How the hell did he sneak up on me like that?

"I didn't. I saw you leaving your class and followed you here."

"So now you're not only an intruder, you're a stalker too." I smirked.

"Come on now Rin, you don't want the whole school to find out about that do you?" He asked, leaning up against the lockers and peering at me from beneath his bangs. "Because if you do, I'm sure I could get that arranged." I blushed.

"Ugh, it's too early for this." I sighed, making a feeble attempt at kicking his shins. Not that I want to hurt him… much. He pulled his leg out of the way and winked at me.

"Besides, I wouldn't stalk you anyway. It's just fun to scare you."

"Oh that's just _great_! I'm gonna turn into a freaking paranoiac because of you." He just grinned at me. I stood there at a loss for words when the warning bell rang, telling us to get our butts to class.

"I… have to go to class." I said lamely. Haru chuckled at me and leaned forward.

"'Have'? Don't pretend like you haven't cut class before." I rolled my eyes at him.

"I don't _have_ time for this!" I yelled, getting slightly frustrated with him.

"Alright then." He kissed my cheek and started walking away, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey who gave you permission to do things like that?" I called after him.

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission." He replied without turning around. "Although I won't ask forgiveness because I'm not sorry about doing that." He turned back and gave me the peace sign before turning a corner and leaving me with ten seconds to get to class. I barely made it. Luckily the teachers don't pay that much attention so I could have been a few seconds late and they wouldn't even notice.

At the end of the day I hurried to my locker and grabbed the things I needed for homework. I went to the bathroom and changed into some street clothes and folded up my uniform. I had work after school and there was no way I was showing up in a school uniform. I left the bathroom and headed for the bus stop outside our school. The bus would take me about a block away from the ramen shop I worked at.

As I left the building I heard a loud engine roar from somewhere on my right side. I turned to see who was making such a big deal and felt myself turn a light shade of pink upon seeing that it was Haru. He was waving at me and it was obvious he'd gunned the engine to get my attention. And everyone elses' too. Feeling as if I couldn't ignore him now that everyone was staring at us, I walked over to him.

"What do you want? You almost made me late for second period and I can't afford to be late for work."

"I want to give you a ride." He replied innocently.

"Hmm thanks, but no thanks. I don't want a crazy hair-style today." I was enjoying playing hard-to-get too much. But it was hard _not_ to play with him after what had happened just two nights ago. Once you give a guy a little you have to pull away. It's like letting a dog lick a piece of meat before pulling it away quickly. The dog knows you'll give into it eventually, but until then it just sits there looking pathetically up at you as you tease it. Kinda like what Haru was doing to me now. I _almost_ gave into him.

"Bye, Haru." I said, walking past him and giving him a small wave. "And I suggest you keep your eyes off my ass if you know what's good for you." I heard people giggle behind me. Haru must have been looking guilty. But then I heard him retort defiantly;

"It's not my fault you have such a nice ass." By now the people around us couldn't keep their laughter quiet anymore. I turned a deep red color and balled my hands into fists.

"Control your hormones, freshman." I shot back. He didn't say anything in reply this time. Ha, looks like I get the last laugh.

When I arrived at the ramen shop I headed back behind the counter and let Midori off her shift.

"Thanks Isuzzu, have fun." She said, packing up her things and preparing to leave.

"Sure," I replied. "I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be." She laughed at my sarcasm. Midori was about nineteen or twenty, just starting college. We never really got a chance to talk because she left as soon as I arrived. I wouldn't mind getting to know her better though. It was just that she had younger siblings to take care of after work and couldn't stick around to talk. Apparently she took early morning and weekend classes in order to take care of the kids, get through school, and hold a job.

Midori gave me a serious look now, however.

"Bring a guy here or something if you have to. Just don't hate your job."

"I don't _hate_ it, but I don't _like_ it either. And why on earth would you say something like that?" Midori just smiled slyly before leaving the shop.

Before long a pack of people my age had entered the shop. There was a black haired guy with a big grin on his face and bright eyes. A girl with long hair held back with a bow was standing between him and another boy with a slightly exasperated look on his face. She looked as if she was _way_ too happy about being here, surrounded by guys. Then there was a quiet looking girl with light hair and an almost blank expression. The final person to enter the shop was none other than Yuki. I supposed this was our student counsel.

He was the one who approached the counter. What else had I expected, really? As the president it was Yuki who had to take care of things like buying food for the counsel.

"Isuzzu-san? I didn't know you worked here."

"You don't know a lot of things." I replied coolly. I don't know why, but I'd never really liked Yuki that much. He and Haru were close, I knew, but I just didn't really take to him. I assume it had something to do with the fact that according to the zodiac legend, rats and horses are supposed to avoid each other. Yuki had never done anything to make me dislike him, but I just didn't see what made him so special in other people's eyes.

Yuki glanced back at the student counsel and then up at the menu behind me.

"I'd like to order two bowls of beef ramen, one pork, one chicken, and one shrimp." He told me. I punched his order into the keypad and came up with his total. I held out my hand for the money and he passed me the bills.

"Your order will be ready in about ten minutes." I told him automatically. Yuki nodded and sat down with his, I guess, friends at the booth they had selected.

"Did you get Kimi her chicken ramen?" I heard the long haired girl ask loudly. Yuki seemed to wince slightly at her tone, but I couldn't blame him. This girl was _obnoxious_. However, he nodded and sat down next to the subdued looking girl.

I listened to them for awhile but their conversation wasn't that interesting. The exasperated boy just kept saying over and over again that they should be working not coming here (funny enough he was eating), the girl named Kimi made stupid, almost blonde comments, and the grinning guy cut in whenever he could find an opening. Yuki and the other girl were quiet. Soon the cook rang the bell behind me and I went back into the kitchen to grab their food. I put the bowls on a large circular tray and carried it out to them.

I set the tray down on the table.

"These two are beef," I said, pointing at the two nearest me. Yuki and the girl sitting next to him took those. "That one is chicken, pork, and shrimp." I indicated each respective bowl. Kimi took chicken, the dark haired boy took pork, and the workaholic took shrimp. "Enjoy." I offered offhandedly, tossing them each a pair of chopsticks and going back behind the counter.

Kagura arrived at five thirty to pick me up from work. The rest of my night consisted of dinner, homework, watching a TV show with Kagura and her mom, and then going to bed. I wrote briefly in my journal before turning out my lights and going to sleep.

The next day Haru tried desperately to get me to pay attention to him. But not only was I still having fun playing hard-to-get, I also was getting back at him for what he'd said after school. Even though I'd had the last laugh that day, I was still embarrassed that he had to go and tell me I had a nice ass in front of a bunch of people. That's kind of a personal issue.

Haru popped up next to my locker in between first and second period again. This time I saw him following me. I found out that his classroom was right next door to mine. I didn't jump like I had last time after he 'hid' behind my locker door. In fact, I walked right past him pretending not to notice he was there. But Haru grabbed a hold of my shoulder as I tried to walk away.

"I'm sure you're having fun playing hard-to-get with me but you'll find I'm a very persistent person. You'll wear down before I'm finished."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" I replied tonelessly. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and began to walk away again. This time he didn't follow me. I smirked to myself. I was torturing the poor boy, I could tell. No matter how hard he tried to pretend like he didn't need me, I could still tell that not being able to be with me was tearing him apart. _Well, Haru, you'll find that I'm a very persistent person too. And I'm not easy to wear down. You might need me, but I don't need you. I want you, of course, but I can survive. _

The rest of the week passed without incident. Haru kept chasing me, and I kept running away, but I found that he had been right. I was slowly wearing down. However, it wasn't because of what he was doing, it was because I had started missing him. Yes as much as I hate to admit it, I had started missing the little freshman. It was a strange feeling. It wasn't as if I was deprived from seeing him. I saw him plenty at and after school. What I missed was the way he made me feel when he got close. I wanted him to hold my hand and kiss me again.

Pride. That's what stopped me from giving in after the first few days. I have a stroke of pride that I even find annoying at times. Sure, Monday and Tuesday it was fun to mess with Haru, but by Wednesday I was feeling the strain too.

But wait, I lied. The rest of the week did _not_ pass without incident. Friday was the day I had started to feel the ache of missing Haru the most. He didn't even talk to me when we met after first period. He just stared at me with a longing, almost pitiful, look on his face. I could only imagine the things he wanted to do right now. Lust is a lot like anger. If you keep it bottled up for too long it explodes. I knew that's what was happening with Haru. Looking back, I realize that I had been cruel to start this whole game in the first place. If I had been planning to play with him, I should have done it before what happened on the night he 'broke' into my room.

I didn't have work after school on Fridays. However, I usually went out after school anyway, whether it was for a gig or just to amuse myself. That's why I changed clothes before leaving school as if I had work. When I left the school building I, out of habit, glanced over to where I knew Haru parked his motorcycle. He was sitting on the bike with his helmet in between his legs and his head resting on his arms on the handle bars.

I made up my mind then. I was sick of playing this game, it wasn't fun anymore. I walked over to Haru. He didn't hear me or see me. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be dozing. I stopped in front of the bike, looking at him as he rested. I reached over the handle bars of the bike and put my hand under Haru's chin. His eye lids flickered but he didn't want to open them. Leaning over the front of the bike, I kissed his lips gently.

That got a reaction. Haru's eyes shot open and he stared at me. My eyes closed as I kissed him, and when he'd finally realized what was going on, he kissed me back. I pulled away (my back was starting to hurt), and looked at him. Haru's eyes were still closed and his mouth was slightly open. I walked around to the side of the bike and sat down behind him, poking his ribs teasingly as I did so.

"Stop sitting there looking like an idiot." I chided. He turned quickly around to face me and before I knew what was happening his lips were on mine again. His hand reached up to cup my cheek and he pressed his lips against mine forcefully. I smiled into the kiss. Haru was bursting with desire right now and I thought; _this distance must have killed him. _Not wanting to upset him, I placed a hand gently on his chest and pushed him back slowly.

"Somewhere else," I told him. His eyes were clouded with longing, but he nodded and had the courtesy to ask;

"Now?"

"Now," I replied, my hand still on his chest. "I doubt you could wait until later anyway."

"You're saying you could?" He mocked turning around, handing me his helmet and drawing another spare out of a side bag. I smiled innocently as I put his helmet on.

"Perhaps."

"You're really something." I heard him mutter before he revved up the motorcycle and drove us away from the school.

AN: I've been have so much fun with this fic. I've already gotten chapter eight written and I've started chapter nine. I hope that all you great readers are having as much fun reading as I am writing. Next chapter should heat things up a bit, although I'm not sure how well I did writing it. Ah well, at least it gives everyone something to look forward to.

Disclaimers: I don't own Fruits Basket or the song _A Girl's Mind_ by Play.


	6. Chapter 6

_C'mon let me hold you, touch you, feel you, always. Kiss you, taste you, all mine, always. _

Blink-182 'Always'

Chapter 6

I kept my arms wrapped tightly around Haru as we sped farther away from the school. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I didn't care either. But after awhile I started to recognize our surroundings.

"You've gotta be crazy!" I shouted over the motorcycle. "You can't be serious!"

"You got a better idea?" He asked calmly. I faltered. There was no way we could go to Kagura's house. With Kagura popping in and out of my room like she did, we'd be sure to get caught. But the prospect of going _there_ was a bit shocking. Haru parked the bike in the driveway outside of a large building. He gave me some instructions as we got off.

"We can't act like we're going to be together. I'll make up some excuse in case someone at the front sees us together but we're gonna have to split up and go to my room different ways." I nodded. He told me how to get to his room using the right hallway, and said he'd take the left since it was a lot harder to find that way.

Sure enough there was a maid in the front lobby. She gave us a suspicious look. Haru began to explain.

"Excuse us please. Isuzzu-san had some business here and I offered her a ride since we attend the same school."

"Fine," The maid replied. "Get on with it and don't disturb anyone."

"Yes ma'am." We said together. I headed down the right hallway and followed the instructions Haru had given me for getting to his room. I got there before he did so I stood outside the door waiting for him to get there. Whenever I heard footsteps I panicked slightly and tried to look like I was on my way somewhere else. Haru finally arrived and gave me an apologetic look.

"Someone just _had_ to stop me and pester me about how 'Akito is _so_ upset that he hasn't gotten to see many of the zodiac members recently. Perhaps you should go visit him this weekend.'" Haru mocked the person who'd bothered him with ease, but I could tell he didn't like the idea of seeing Akito. He rolled his eyes and unlocked his bedroom door quickly. He let me in but he didn't follow me in right away.

"What's your relationship with Akito?" I asked curiously. Akito treated each of the zodiac members differently depending on their animal. Haru chucked his room key down on a table.

"He treats me like a fucking idiot because the ox _let_ the rat ride to the banquet on his head." He replied bitterly. I dropped my school bag at the sudden malice in his voice.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. Abandoning my bag, I walked over to Haru who was still standing in the doorway. I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck, leading him into the room. He couldn't help but calm down at my touch.

"Ah, Haru stop that, that's not fair!" I yelled.

"Why should I?" He teased.

"Aww come on! You've won every round before this. Can't you give me a chance?" Oh, what were you thinking? I know you were thinking something dirty weren't you? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but nothing's happened. Haru and I were playing video games, Super Smash Bros. Melee to be exact. As you can see, he'd been kicking my butt. I guess it was to be expected. I'd never played the game before today, so I kinda sucked.

Haru chuckled at me, setting his controller down next to him.

"I still can't believe you've never played this game before." He told me.

"I'm a musician not a video game fanatic." I retorted.

"Eh, well, you get into strange things when you're cooped up inside all the time." Haru shrugged. I gave him a weird look at that comment.

"You don't appear to be 'cooped up inside all the time' to me. You were at the coffeehouse that one night and the mall and you came to my house."

"All things I don't normally get to do." He replied. "I went to the coffeehouse right after school like I usually do on Fridays. The people here think I'm in an after-school activity. I was allowed to go to the mall only because I had Kisa with me. Her mom was busy and Kisa needed some new clothes for spring so I offered to take her. As for coming to visit you, that night I snuck out." I shook my head at him.

"Good at finding loopholes aren't you?" I asked.

"So're you."

"I don't live on the inside; it's easier to get out if you don't." Haru just shrugged again and picked his game controller up.

"One more round?" he asked.

"Eh, loosing one more time won't kill me I suppose."

Of course I did loose, but not as badly as I had been the previous matches. Oh well, it was fun. I might have to get this game, or maybe I'll just come and see Haru more often. Whoops, did I just say that? I meant _definitely_ get the game for myself. I don't want to admit to liking him that much (yet). I'm still kinda freaked out that I was in his room for over an hour.

I glanced over at Haru, who seemed lost in thought as I had just been.

"What are you thinking?" I asked before I could stop myself. Haru didn't seem bothered by my question; in fact he gave me a small smirk.

"What?" I asked, his look making me feel flustered. I wasn't sure why though. Maybe I foresaw what happened next.

Haru wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to rest against his chest. His legs were on either side of my body and my head was lying near his shoulder. I glanced up at him; my cheeks tinged a light pink.

"Still wanna know what I'm thinking?" he asked, still smiling.

"Well," I said drawing the word out. "Why don't you show me?" I finally replied, my hand reaching up to stroke his cheek.

I'm not sure what caused me to act like that. It was probably the strain from avoiding him. Whatever it was, I'm glad I did it. It gave Haru the permission he needed to do what he'd wanted to do all night. Haru's hands moved nervously near my waist, or at least that's the best way I can describe it.

"Are you ok?" I asked, bending my neck back to try and get a better look at him.

"Yeah… I'm ok, I just…"

"Just what?" I encouraged him.

"I don't want to do something to piss you off and make you leave. I don't feel like I could live with myself if I did." I gasped slightly. I turned around in order to look at Haru better.

"I, I…" I couldn't think of anything to say. It was ok though, because Haru knew what to do. He readjusted his hold on my waist and started to lean back, pulling me with him. I went with him, feeling like after this was over my face would be a permanent shade of pink. I rested my head down on his shoulder and he turned to look at me.

"I guess it's kind of no-brainer to figure out that I want you to be my girlfriend." Haru said after a comfortable silence where we both got used to this new position. I nodded.

"I will. It sounds more real when you say it though, not when you just expect me to assume it." He smiled and squeezed my waist gently.

Haru moved forward to kiss me. I let him, still feeling a bit numb that he'd asked me to be his girlfriend. But I guessed that gave him more freedom around me. He wouldn't have to hold back anymore now that he was sure I was his. Before we were just messing around, but now it was official. To us anyway. No one else would be allowed to find out about it because it might get back to Akito. Akito didn't let _anyone_ in the zodiac date anybody. No, not even other zodiac members. He had a weird jealousy issue. Apparently he thought that the soul purpose of the zodiac members was to serve him, God. And maybe it used to be, but times have changed.

"Haru," I said quietly after we broke the kiss.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"I want to tell someone about us… it'll make me feel better about it."

"I'm glad you brought that up because I wanted to tell someone too."

"I want to tell Shigure, my brother." I said, with a bit of hesitation in my voice. I didn't usually confide things in Shigure, but he would be good for stuff like this.

"I want to tell Yuki." Haru said.

"Ok," Like I said before, I wasn't crazy about Yuki but I didn't dislike him. If Haru trusted him with our secret, then I would have to as well. I don't know what Yuki could gain by telling someone anyway.

After a few more minutes of lying on top of Haru I moved over to lie next to him. He turned so we could face each other. I smiled at him.

"When's your next performance?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." I said honestly. "I haven't written any new songs lately and none of my old songs are appealing to me right now." We got into a long discussion about music after that. Haru didn't play any instruments but he sure knew a hell of a lot about bands and different types of music.

"You should play drums." I told him teasingly. "You look like a drummer to me." He shrugged.

"I probably have no sense of rhythm whatsoever."

"Have you ever tried?" I asked.

"Well, no I've never tried playing drums."

"Try to get a rhythm to this." I said, sitting up and beginning to sing.

"_Close my eyes; let the whole thing pass me by. There is no time to waste asking why. I'll run away with you by my side. I'll run away with you by my side. I need let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride. Until this echo, echo, echo, echo in my mind, until this echo, echo, echo can subside, yeah_." Haru didn't move as I finished the verse. In fact, he hadn't moved at all save for sitting up to get a better look at me.

"You were supposed to find a rhythm." I scolded jokingly.

"Sorry, you just look so, so perfect singing. It's like that's what you're meant to do." I blushed and looked down at the carpet. "What have I told you about looking away from me when you're embarrassed?" Haru asked. I didn't answer. It was sort of a habit for me to look away from people when they made me nervous or complimented me.

Haru put his hand under my chin and raised my head so that I was staring straight into his brown eyes. This felt a lot like what he'd done back in my bedroom a few nights ago.

"When you're a big-shot singer are you gonna look away from your fans and admirers?"

"What does it matter?" I asked. "I won't be a big-shot singer."

"Don't say that." He replied, looking at me very seriously. "Just answer the question."

"Well… I, I guess not. I'll be used to the flattery by then… but why does it matter now?"

"Because I'm gonna make it my goal to be the person you trust most. If I can't break you of your habit of looking away from me when you blush then I know you'll never fully trust me. I want you to be able to do anything you'd normally do alone in front of me. I know I have to earn it and I know that in the end it all depends on you, but that's what I want, Rin."

I fought back the surge of emotions that Haru's words had awakened in me. But then I realized that I shouldn't fight them. He wanted me to show him what I was feeling. So I threw my arms him and beamed. After holding him for awhile, I pulled back to kiss him. I was still kinda shy in this area, but Haru didn't care. He deepened the kiss I had started and buried his hands in my hair. I wrapped my arms around his neck, enjoying the kiss and the fact that I had started it.

We broke apart for air, both panting slightly from the kiss. Haru pulled his hands out of my hair and bent his head forward to nuzzle my neck. It tickled, and my first reaction was to jump and push his head away. But I knew he meant no harm and let him stay. He smoothed my hair out of the way and rested his forehead against my neck. He slowly moved around behind me, which made me a little nervous.

Haru moved away from my neck and put his hand on my cheek. He turned me to face him and said, very seriously;

"If there's ever a moment when you want me to stop, tell me. Don't be afraid. Sometimes I've been known to let my emotions get the better of me." He gave a wry smile and moved back to my neck.

At first all he did was play with my hair. He'd run his fingers through it and put it over one of my shoulders and then the other. I think he liked the softness and how it smelled. He never really told me outright, but he did make me promise never to change my shampoo. Plus there was the fact that he was always burying his face in it. I didn't mind though. I relaxed when I found he was starting with something so simple. I was used to people messing with my hair because of Kagura, and I soon grew used to his touch.

I let him touch the back of my neck and then my throat. His hands were warm and gentle. I gave myself over to him; I wasn't scared. His hands moved slowly from my neck to my shoulders. He put one hand on top of each of my shoulders and moved them steadily down my arms. Haru came back to my shoulders quickly and pushed the straps of my tank-top and bra away on my right shoulder. I found my heart speeding up and I put my hand on top of his.

He stopped. Haru's eyes met mine and I gave his hand a squeeze. I didn't want him to stop, but I needed something solid to hold onto for a moment. He slipped his hand out from under mine and kissed the back of my hand softly. I let my hand drop back down into my lap and Haru smiled behind me; I could see it out of the corner of my eye. I was trusting him, and he couldn't be happier.

Haru kissed my now bare shoulder, making a path from there to my neck. I could tell that this was where he'd wanted to go all along. I couldn't figure out if he'd done all the other stuff to drive me insane or prepare me for what he did next. When he reached my neck he kissed up to the point under my ear and then back down. His kisses were now open-mouthed and hot.

I felt him take a deep breath behind me; when he exhaled it tickled my skin, and his chest was right up against my back. He rested his forehead in the dip between my shoulder and my neck. I closed my eyes and felt his heart beating fast against my back. I moved my hand up to stroke his hair. It was pointed from the gel he'd used in the morning, but I managed to get most of it out with all my stroking.

Haru suddenly moved while I was occupied with his hair. His lips found mine once more and he put his hand on top of the one I had in his hair. He applied a small pressure to my hand that made me push his lips into mine. I jerked back slightly but found my position again quickly. If I hadn't Haru would probably have knocked me over. But maybe that was his intention all along. Too bad for him; I was getting better at this, and more used to his abruptness.

I pulled back for air, my hand still on the back of Haru's head. He kept his eyes closed and waited for me to catch my breath.

"That can't be a comfortable position." I told him with a small laugh. Haru was still behind me and almost leaning over my shoulder to reach my lips. I had turned my body to face him more but it still couldn't be easy for him. He opened his eyes and shrugged.

"It's worth it." And then his mouth came crashing back down on mine. He ran his tongue over my lips, asking for entrance. I tried to pull away from him in fear, but only managed to pull his head with mine as my hand was still stuck in his hair. But I had no doubt he'd understood that I wasn't ready for that yet. Of course, Haru wanted to test me.

Haru would have probably French kissed me that night in my room if it weren't for the fact that we were both so shocked at how things had turned out. But now he had a second chance and wanted to take it. I didn't want to let him. What had happened so far was totally beyond anything I'd ever dreamed of experiencing and I was afraid to do anymore. However, Haru was in control and if he couldn't get in by asking, he'd try a different tactic.

And he did. Just after I had settled down from his blunt request, he came back with another, not so gentle one. He bit my lip hard enough to make me open my mouth, which gave him the opportunity to shove his tongue in my mouth. I felt myself going weak and I started to lean back. Haru followed me.

I fell to my back and straightened my legs out just before Haru moved to straddle me. I quickly put a hand on his chest and pushed him backwards. I wasn't angry, but he was scaring me. He was crazed with passion; I could see it in his eyes when I looked. I didn't blame him for what happened though. Hormones can make you do some crazy things. Especially when you've already spiked them.

We both took calming breaths. Haru moved off me and helped me sit up. I was a little shaky.

"I'm so sorry, Rin." He said. His voice was a little thin and sounded desperate. "I didn't mean for it to go that far."

I shook my head and smiled.

"It's ok. If I'd wanted to stop you before that I would have. I just don't want you walking away with the idea that I'm _that_ easy." We laughed; my joking and reassurance was calming Haru down. Haru situated himself beside me so we could get our heads back on straight. But suddenly, being away from him didn't feel like an option to me. I moved over in front of him so I could lie up against his chest.

"You should go." Haru said quietly. I'd been waiting for him to say that. He checked his watch and looked back at me. "You've been here four hours." He seemed surprised, and I was too. I sighed and got up reluctantly. Haru gathered my things while I straightened my clothes.

"We should sneak out the window. Fewer questions will be asked if you're not in this wing of the house." I nodded and made my way over to the window. Haru opened it and pulled the screen out. He held my bag while I slipped out of the room, landing with a soft _thud_.

"Ok, toss my bag down." I called up to him. Seconds later my bag came falling out of the window. I caught it and moved out of the way so Haru could get out.

"Where do we go?" I whispered. We were standing behind tall hedges but that didn't mean we couldn't be heard. It was a good thing both Haru and I were wearing dark colors. Hedges don't generally have pink or yellow between their leaves.

"Follow me." Haru started walking down the length of hedges towards what I assumed was the front of the building. Soon we were standing on the edge of the building on one of the back sides. I followed Haru around to where his motorcycle was parked. Luckily we met no one.

Instead of getting on the bike, Haru and I wheeled it out of the Sohma property and onto the road. Then we climbed on quickly and Haru gunned it away from the Sohma homes. I took and deep breath and glanced backwards to see the buildings growing smaller and smaller.

"That's too risky." I yelled to him. "We need to find a better place to be together."

"What about your house?"

"No, Kagura's always popping in and out of my room without knocking or anything. She'd definitely walk in on us and if she saw something like what happened today…" I trailed off. Haru got the idea.

"I'll think about it." Haru offered. The rest of the trip was silent, mostly because neither of us really felt like yelling to talk over the engine. Soon Haru was pulling into Kagura's driveway and slowing to a stop outside the garage door. I gave him a squeeze before getting up and collecting my things.

"Bye," I said softly. I didn't want to leave him, not after what had just happened. But I also didn't want him to get in trouble for being out of the Sohma house too late. The sun had just set behind the tall buildings of our city. However, the sky was still tinted with a light purple near the ground. The street lights around us had started to flicker on. It must have been, at least, eight o'clock. I turned to go then, but felt Haru's hand on my wrist pulling me back. He kissed me deeply for a few moments and finally let me go again.

"We'll have to do this again sometime." Haru said with a smirk. I blushed brightly and he started the engine again. He turned the bike around and looked over his shoulder at me. He winked and flipped the visor of his helmet down before shooting out of the driveway.

AN: This is a record for me, a seven page long chapter! Wew! Hehe, anyway, let me know how I did with the fluff. This is way intense for my stories, since I mostly write cute little stories where the charaters kiss and that's that. I kicked it up a notch for this story cause I _really _wanted to earn my PG-13 rating. I love you all and Chapter 7 shall be up shortly. Sayonara! n.n

Disclaimers: I don't own, Fruits Basket, Blink-182's song _Always_, Super Smash Bros. Melee, or the song _Echo _by Trapt which is the song Rin sings in the middle of the chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

_So I stand a look around, distracted by the sounds of everyone and everything I see. And I search every face without a single trace of the person, the person that I need._

Hoobastank 'Disappear'

Chapter 7

Haru wasn't at school the next Monday. It was the last Monday of the school year too. It was a bit risky to take days off this close to our final exams, but Haru was definitely a free spirit. I had no doubt in my mind that, if he wanted to, he'd take a day off of school for no reason. I mean, it wasn't like he had parents or anything to make him go to school. Maybe I was getting a bit conceited, but I felt like Haru enjoyed coming to school in order to see me. I knew I sure liked seeing him.

I didn't think much of Haru's absence until Wednesday. He'd missed three days of school, and Thursday was the first day of finals. I didn't think Haru cared one way or the other how he did in school, but I thought he'd at least _show up_ for finals. There are all kinds of consequences for missing finals. So, I decided to ask someone from the inside what was going on with him after school that Wednesday. I was so bent on finding out where Haru was, I'd forgotten that to most of the Sohma family we were complete strangers.

Luckily that didn't bother the Sohma I decided to ask. At least he didn't ask many questions.

"Momiji-kun," I said, hurrying to catch up with the half-German, half-Japanese boy who was the rabbit of the zodiac. He turned around to see who had called to him, and I knew he was surprised to find it was me.

"Isuzu-san," The blonde boy nodded in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to tell me where Haru-kun is." I decided to add the honorific for good measure, just so Momiji didn't get too suspicious. To my surprise and gratitude, Momiji didn't say 'Why?' or 'Since when do you call him Haru?' or anything of the like. Instead Momiji's face fell a bit.

"No one told you… well I guess that makes since. No one thinks you and Haru know each other that well." The younger boy gave me a knowing look. I blushed.

"Things have been a bit crazy… and fast between me and him. Let's just say that I know him well enough. And I care about him enough to wonder if he's ok when he's missing from school for three days." The rabbit nodded.

"Haru's in the hospital."

"What?!" I yelled, catching the attention of many of the people standing near us. It was after school, but a lot of people were staying after for clubs, sports, and whatnot. I hardly paid them any attention. "What the hell happened to him?" Momiji managed a small smile at my outburst.

"He's got a pretty bad fracture in his right leg and he's all scratched up. But the doctors are convinced he'll be fine. No scars, no lasting pain, or anything. He was out riding his motorcycle pretty late Friday night and got in a crash with a drunk driver. The other guy is in intensive care. Haru definitely came off better."

I felt really guilty after hearing that he'd been hit. I knew it was because he'd driven me home from his house after school the previous Friday. Momiji must have noticed my guilty look because he said;

"Do you have any idea why he was out so late?" I nodded.

"He was dropping me off at my house." I decided to skip the details about how we'd snuck into his room and had a _little_ too much fun. Momiji shrugged this off and decided he was done asking questions. I had turned to go when he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Rin-san, this weekend there's going to be a charity talent show at the hospital Haru is staying in until he can walk again." I nodded. If I wanted to see Haru anytime soon it would have to be at that talent show. I was sure I couldn't get into his room to see him without another Sohma finding out.

"Thanks a lot, Momiji-kun. But it looks like you've missed your bus, would you like me to drive you home?" Just then, from behind me, I heard a voice call;

"Momiji-kun!" I turned around to see Yuki, Kyo, and a girl I didn't recognize headed in our direction. I supposed this was the 'outside' girl everyone had been talking about. Apparently she lived with Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki. I think Kagura said her name was Tohru. It was this girl who had called Momiji's name. I muttered a quick;

"Thanks, Momiji." Before turning to head into the parking lot and up to the public bus stop. That's when I heard my name.

"Isuzu-san." A soft voice stopped me. It wasn't the girl, and there was only one boy I knew who spoke that quietly.

"Yuki-kun." I said, nodding. I wanted to leave before Yuki could start a conversation with me, but that was precisely what he had in mind. The rat looked over his shoulder quickly to see if the rest of his friends were busy and took a step closer to me.

"I know." He said simply. "Haru has told me."

"I knew he was going to tell you." I said with a shrug. "But uh," I hesitated before saying the next thing that was on my mind. "Would it be at all possible for me to come with you guys so I can talk to Shigure?" Yuki shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Anyway… did Momiji tell you what happened to Haru?"

"Yeah, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling him that I hope he's ok. I can't go see him since nobody really knows what's going on between us. I won't be able to see him until this weekend at the hospital's charity talent show." Yuki nodded.

"I'm going to see him tomorrow. I'll let him know Momiji told you what happened."

"Also," I said, hesitating again. "Tell him that I'm sorry." Yuki gave me a confused look but nodded all the same. He turned and walked back to the others. I followed him.

"Tohru-san," Yuki said, addressing the girl. "This is Isuzu-sama, she's year of the horse."

"Hello Isuzu-san, Kagura-chan has told me about you. It's very nice to meet you." I was surprised by this girl's complete kindness to me. She shook my hand as I nodded to her.

"Shigure is like my brother. I need go talk to him for a bit." I explained. Tohru looked taken aback at the fact that Shigure was my older brother.

"Shigure-san is your brother?" She asked. I nodded.

"Sorta," She looked confused. Yuki put a hand on her shoulder before she could ask anymore questions. He gave her a look that plainly said 'later'. She nodded to him and we set off to my brother's house.

It was a crazy trip. With Momiji and Kyo's conflicting personalities and the excitement of a new person (me) joining them, it was almost like a miniature party. I have to admit I had fun, but I was a little nervous about talking to Shigure. It wasn't exactly like we got along. He had played a big role in my childhood, which was why I regarded him as my brother. But I wasn't exactly comfortable around him anymore. Of course, he was the only person I trusted to tell the secret of Haru and me to. Even though I trusted Kagura, I couldn't be sure whether or not she would tell someone else. I knew she wouldn't do it on purpose, but she was the kind of person who might accidentally let something slip.

When we got to Shigure's house, I immediately headed for Shigure's office. I had been here many times before, and I knew Shigure well. I knew he'd be in there. Whether or not he'd be working on his book like he was supposed to be was no concern of mine. I knocked on the door and quickly let myself in when he called 'come in'.

"Rin-chan, this is a surprise!" Shigure said when he saw it was me. I nodded to him, my face impassive. "What has possessed you to visit your dear older brother?" He continued, noticing my look. He always liked to tease me.

"I've got a bit of a personal problem that I wanted to talk to you about." Shigure nodded, suddenly becoming serious. I had to hand it to him; he knew when to stop playing around. I took a deep breath and said;

"It's about Haru." Shigure motioned for me to keep going. "Well, he came to watch me sing one day at a coffee house and we were introduced by Kagura. We went out to eat after my show and he told me that he'd had a crush on me for awhile now."

"I figured." Shigure commented. I blushed lightly but continued my story.

"Anyway, we decided to play a trick on Kagura and it ended up with Haru kissing me. After that I couldn't get him out of my head. I realized I was falling for him and now we're dating behind Akito's back."

"That could get you into trouble. _A lot_ of trouble. You could come off worse than Haru is now." I nodded.

"That's why I'm scared. That's why I wanted to tell someone. Haru felt the same way and told Yuki about it. Haru, Yuki, you, and I are the only ones who know about the dating part. Momiji knows that we're closer than most people think, but no more than that."

Shigure sat at his computer desk, thinking quietly. He took his reading glasses off and looked me in the eyes.

"As far as I can tell the two of you are handling it rather well. Just make absolutely _sure_ Akito _never_ finds out. I've seen the worst things happen to zodiac members when they fall in love and Akito finds out. Has anyone told you about Hatori?" I shook my head slowly. Shigure sighed, placing his glasses on his desk. "Hatori was in love with a wonderful young woman named Kanna. It went so far that he considered asking Akito if it was ok for him to propose to her. But Akito found out about the relationship before Hatori had a chance to tell him.

"Akito is the one who damaged Hatori's eye, and it wasn't an accident. Kanna had to watch while Akito yelled at Hatori and finally struck him. And then Akito gave Hatori the orders to erase Kanna's memories. Hatori told me that was the hardest thing he had ever had to do in his life. I'm not telling you this to make you have second thoughts about dating Haru. I'm just using Hatori's story as a warning for you: Akito must _never_ find out."

I nodded quickly. No one had ever bothered to tell any of us what had happened to our doctor. Whenever one of the children asked, the adults would glare at the child and tell them that Hatori had been in an accident. This was true, but people never found out that it was an accident involving Akito. Most of the members of the Sohma clan had no clue how cruel Akito was.

After that rather gruesome meeting with Shigure, I walked back to Kagura's house and headed straight for my room. It was time for me to finally give into the music that had been in me since I'd started to fall for Haru. I was going to write a song. A song that would explain to him all that I'd felt for him and was feeling for him now. A song that might show Haru how much he meant to me, and how much he had changed me for the better.

I got into my bedroom, kicked my shoes off, and locked my door. I didn't want Kagura or anyone else to interrupt me while I was writing. I grabbed my journal and lay down on my bed, wondering how to start. _I guess the beginning would be good. _I thought wryly to myself. I started to write.

My song was ready, with lyrics and music, by Friday night. The charity show was going to be on Saturday afternoon. I usually rehearsed new songs for about two days before I actually played them. I just had to trust that since this song definitely came from my heart, it would be perfect. Or at least, I hoped it would sound perfect to Haru.

I must have played the song a dozen times in my room that Friday night. Then I finally decided it was done. I went downstairs and into the living room where Kagura sat watching TV.

"Hello stranger." She said upon seeing me. Then she noticed the guitar hanging off my shoulder. "You got a new song?" I nodded.

"Let's hear it." Kagura listened intently to my song; the music and the lyrics. I let the song flow through me as I hadn't been able to alone in my room. When I'd finished, I placed my guitar down next to the chair I sank into.

"How was it?" I asked nervously. I had never written a song that meant this much to me.

"It was… It was unlike anything I've ever heard you play before. It was amazing! It was like the song came from your very soul. I think he's _really_ gonna like it." Kagura smiled. That was all the encouragement I needed. I stood up and walked over to the couch where Kagura was sitting. I hugged her briefly before heading up to my room again. I was ready.

AN: So, I said in the last chapter Shigure was Rin's brother because in one of the manga books she calls him ni-san, which usually means brother. Then I went on Wikipedia to look at character profiles and it said Rin was an only child. I know Wikipedia isn't entirely reliable since people can edit it, so I compromised and said Shigure was like Rin's brother. I hope that explains what Rin says in this chapter better. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my plot twist! hehe

Disclaimer: I don't own the song 'Disappear' by Hoobastank or Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya.


	8. Chapter 8

_A moment like this. Some people wait forever, for a moment like this. Some people search forever for that one special kiss. Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me. Some people wait a lifetime, for a moment like this. _

Kelly Clarkson 'A Moment Like This'

Chapter 8

Kagura and I drove to the hospital together in my car. My guitar was in the back seat along with the sheet music I'd decided to write out and the lyrics to my song. This time, I wasn't nervous about my playing. The only person's opinion I cared about today was Haru's. And I knew that even if I sang like a total idiot he would still love me. This was just about trying to make him understand everything he made me feel. I thought that just words wouldn't be enough; I couldn't simply_ tell_ him how I felt. This song would be worthy of all the feelings and desires I wanted to express. Well, I hoped it would anyway.

I parked the car in a visitor's space and headed into the lobby of the hospital, Kagura in tow. It was a nice place with lots of windows. One wall of windows looked out to a courtyard where a lot of patients could be seen enjoying the nice weather. I approached the desks that had been set up in the lobby to register. A lady with blonde hair and green eyes had me write down my name, act, and if I had any dedications. I filled out her form grudgingly. She looked over the form after I'd handed it in and, once she was satisfied it was all correct, gave me a sticker with a number and told me to wait in the side lobby.

I went down the hall on the left and found myself in a carpeted area full of squashy chairs. I supposed they were for the families of patients to sit on. Right now the room was full of excited people, mostly teenagers, talking and laughing. I recognized some people from my school but I didn't go over to talk to them. I didn't feel like celebrating right now. To them, their talents were just going to support the hospital. Don't get me wrong; that's a great thing. But my talent was going to express something to the one person I loved above all else. I felt like I had more at stake than them.

I looked at the sticker the woman had given me. A big number '7' was written on it in black Sharpie. I took the back off the sticker and stuck it on the bottom, right-hand corner of my shirt. I then found a chair and sat down in it, waiting. I didn't have long to wait of course, seven wasn't exactly at the end of the number string.

About twenty minutes later a tall guy with dark hair called for my number. I walked over to him and he told me where I needed to go. I left my guitar case in that waiting-room-type-place and followed the guy's instructions. I soon found myself in a makeshift backstage area for the show.

"Number seven?" Another guy, this time short and bald, asked me. I nodded. "You're gonna be singing and playing that guitar right?" I resisted the urge to say something sarcastic to him. I just nodded again. "You're next." He told me before turning around to tend to other matters. I took deep breaths and readied myself for this.

The person who was number six must have done some kind of comedy act because the laughs of the audience filtered through the curtain they had put up on the stage. I never really heard the jokes, just the laughter. Number six was cheered off the stage. I didn't care whether or not I got the same applause as Six had gotten. I just wanted to make Haru understand.

"You're on!" The guy from earlier was back and pushing me towards the stage.

"Easy," I told him. "This is a charity talent show, not MTV!" The guy didn't answer me. I walked onto the stage. People applauded me politely, but I wasn't paying attention. I was looking for Haru. I saw him sitting in a wheelchair in the second row from the front. We made eye contact. He looked completely bewildered to see me there, but delighted at the same time. I smiled as I approached the mic. I was back where I belonged.

"Hi," I said into the mic. "I'm Rin Sohma and I'm going to be singing a song I wrote. It's dedicated to someone very special to me, someone who is having treatment here at this hospital right now. I hope you all enjoy the song." I pulled my guitar into place and started my song.

"_I wake up in the morning, put on my face. The one that's gonna get me through another day. Doesn't really matter how I feel inside. This life is like a game sometimes. _

_"Then you came around me, the walls just disappeared. Nothing to surround me, keep me from my fears. I'm unprotected; see how I've opened up. Oh, you've made me trust._

_"Cause I've never felt like this before. I'm naked around you. Does it show? You see right through me and I can't hide. I'm naked around you. And it feels so right. _

_"I'm trying to remember why I was afraid, to be myself and let the covers fall away. Guess I never had someone like you, to help me fit in my skin. _

_"I've never felt like this before. I'm naked around you. Does it show? You see right through me and I can't hide. I'm naked around you. And it feels so right. _

_"I'm naked. Does it show? I'm naked… I'm naked around you. Does it show? I'm so naked around you… and I can't hide. You're gonna, you're gonna see right through. See right through me and I can't hide… _

"_I'm so naked around you, and I can't hide. You're gonna see right through, baby." _

The song ended, my illusion fell, and I was left staring at Haru's face. He brought his hands together and started clapping. The rest of the crowd followed suit. I felt like I had just won a Grammy Award. My face broke out into a wide smile as I listened to the people around me clap. Haru and I held eye contact the whole time. He was smiling almost as widely as me. The guy from backstage had come to escort me off the stage. I didn't let him. He grabbed my shoulder but I shrugged it off and jumped off the stage and into the crowd. I made my way through the people and to Haru.

"Was that all for little ol' me?" He asked, feigning shock. I laughed, shaking my head at him. I could feel tears stinging my eyes. I had done it. I had told Haru I loved him in the most honest way I could, and he loved me back. I threw my arms around his neck without even thinking about his injured leg.

"Hey, careful there!" Haru's nurse shouted to me. I heard the amusement in her voice. The pair of us smiled at her and she just shook her head. Haru pulled me up to sit on his lap in the wheelchair with him. I blushed, but I couldn't stop grinning. Haru kissed me deeply as soon as I was in his lap. I laughed again as we broke away.

"Damn," He whispered softly.

"What?" I asked, thinking something was wrong. Haru gave me a lopsided grin.

"I feel like a fucking idiot for getting hurt, cause that means I can't be with you." I shook my head at him, blushing all the while. Haru wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

"I regret that I can't say or do everything I want to right now because someone might see. Technically, I probably shouldn't be doing what we are right now, but hell if I care. I just… I love you, Rin. There's no better way to put it." I smiled.

"I love you too, Haru." We kissed again, only this time it was slow and passionate. I never wanted that moment to end. But it did end, with the two of us pulling apart. We glanced around to see if anyone had been watching us. It looked like only Haru's nurse had noticed anything since the show was still going on. I climbed off Haru's lap and took a seat next to him. We secretly held hands throughout the entire show.

"Oh c'mon now, Haru. You have to let us sign!" This was Kagura who was holding a Sharpie over Haru's cast hopefully. Haru raised an eyebrow at Kagura.

"Whatever floats your boat." He answered with a shrug. The three of us were in the courtyard I had seen when I'd come in. Night had fallen by the time the show was over, but it was still pleasantly warm outside. Haru, Kagura, and I walked (or in Haru's case rolled) around the path in the courtyard. This was the safest way for us to be with him since we couldn't go into his room without arousing suspicion. The show had only been over for about five minutes when the three of us escaped the crowd and quickly found the way into the courtyard. We had just finished our first lap around the path when someone came outside to join us.

"Hey guys!" It was Momiji followed by Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Kisa. The small girl held onto Yuki's hand as they entered, but let go and hurried over to Haru as soon as she saw him.

"Yo Kisa, what's up?" Haru asked, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into his lap. Kisa smiled, and I did too despite myself. It was cute to see how drawn to Haru the young girl was. Kagura was only too happy to join the big group of people, but I could feel myself sliding to the background. I didn't like crowds in the best situations, and I _really_ didn't like them when I didn't know half of the people there very well. I just stood back and smiled, glad that Haru was happy and that I'd succeeded in telling him what I'd wanted to. I felt somewhat unfulfilled because we hadn't had much time to talk alone, but now that he was in the hospital I felt like the time I'd gotten was all I could ask for. Then I heard Haru's voice raise above the noise everyone was making.

"Hey guys, could you give me and Rin a moment, I wanna have some alone time with her." I couldn't help but blush when everyone's heads turned towards me. But, after looking at me for a few moments, they all left the courtyard and went into the front lobby to wait until Haru called them back.

Haru rolled his wheelchair over to me and smiled.

"Well, I feel loved." He said amusedly. I nodded, feeling nervous for some reason.

"Yeah, it was really nice of everyone to come see you."

"That's not what I mean, Rin. I feel loved by _you_. I can't tell you how great it feels that you wrote a song for me." I felt my face heating up again.

"W-well I, I just wanted to tell you everything I'd been feeling and I felt like the best way to do that would be to write it in a song. I feel the most honest when I express things through my music."

"Really," Haru said, rolling closer but being careful not to roll over my feet. "Cause I feel the most honest when I express things through…" And then he reached up and kissed me deeply on the lips again. "That." He ended, giving me a satisfied smirk. I shook my head at him, smiling broadly.

"You're too cute." I told him, running my hands through his hair. It was soft today. I guess he didn't think he needed to gel his hair while he was in the hospital. Haru leaned his head into my chest and closed his eyes.

"Perv," I said, smirking at him.

"Am I?" Haru asked mildly. "Nah, I'm just a poor, exhausted hospital patient who thought it would be ok for him to lay up against his girlfriend's chest. If I was a perv I would do something like this," And he proceeded to smack my butt. I giggled at him, since I knew he was just kidding around. That is, I laughed until he continued to rest his hand on my backside. Then I just started blushing ferociously.

Haru looked up at me through his bangs, smirking at me.

"I go by what I said before, you have a nice ass."

"Well hospital boy," I said, getting some of my sassiness back. "What makes you think I'm the _only_ one with a nice ass?"

"So you've looked?" Haru asked amusedly. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Of course I have." Haru and I held each other's gaze for about five seconds before bursting out into laughter.

"God I've missed this, you." He said, raising his head up again. Haru pulled his hand back into the wheelchair. I smiled at him.

"I've missed this and you too. I'll try to sneak in visits whenever I can." Haru nodded and tried to stand up. I pushed him back down with a gentle hand on his chest.

"I'll come to you." I said. But Haru didn't wait for me. Much like he had with Kisa, he wrapped his arms around my waist and placed me in his lap once more. I rested my head on his shoulder briefly before looking up at him. His hands were running through my hair methodically and his eyes were closed once again.

"I can't stand to be without you anymore. It's like you're my drug or something." He told me in a hushed voice. "During those first few days in the hospital, I felt like something cold had taken hold of my heart and was squeezing it."

In answer I pulled Haru's lips down to mine. I didn't want him to talk about stuff like that right now. I was too happy. I felt a little selfish for cutting him off, but I could tell he didn't care when his tongue took up residence in my mouth again. I pulled away from him before he got too much farther. I didn't want him to get too involved and do something stupid.

"When you're better, we'll finish what we started that night in your bedroom." I promised him.

"You're gonna make me wait that long?" He asked, giving me puppy-dog eyes.

"I don't see any other option." I told him seriously. "All I know is that we can't do it here." Haru gave me a look that told me quite bluntly that he wanted it so bad _now, _that I decided I'd better leave.

"When you can walk again, I swear." I told him again, getting up and heading out of the courtyard. Haru followed me in his wheelchair. Before I left the courtyard, Haru took my hand a squeezed it briefly before letting me leave. When I got into the lobby I told the others they could go back to Haru. I told Kagura she'd have to catch a ride from someone else since I was going home. She looked disappointed that I was leaving, but nodded all the same. I sighed and left the hospital with mixed emotions.

AN: So, that's the song that started this whole story. It's called 'Naked' by Avril Lavigne. This story was originally gonna be a one-shot song-fic but I just kept getting more ideas for it and now it's a full length story. Yay! Anyway, I've written a bit of chapter 9 but I still need to finish it and edit it, so I'm not sure when I'll have it up. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, the song 'A Moment Like This'by Kelly Clarkson, or the song 'Naked' by Avril Lavigne. But you knew that already.


	9. Chapter 9

_I need you like water, like breath, like rain. I need you like mercy from heaven's gate. There's a freedom in your arms that carries me through. I need you._

Leann Rimes 'I Need You'

Chapter 9

"So, Yuki and Kyo tell me that Haru's working really, really hard on his physical therapy. Apparently a nurse told them that Haru said all he wanted to do was walk again as quickly as possible. You didn't promise him something under the condition that he could walk, did you?" Kagura asked me a week after the charity show. I glanced up at her from my bowl of cereal and asked;

"What's it to you?" Kagura laughed.

"Well, I guess it really isn't any of my business, I just wondered. It seems like you're the only thing Haru gets excited over nowadays. I think you guys are really good for each other, ya know?" I smiled.

"Yeah, I know."

I actually knew that Haru was working hard on his therapy because I'd talked to him on the phone the night before. He'd managed to get someone to give him his cell phone and he'd called me around nine o'clock. He had sounded like he was doing a lot better. He'd also bragged to me that he could get around using crutches instead of the wheelchair now. He said it was only a matter of time before I'd have to take him up on my promise. To tell the truth I was just as excited about it as he was. I desperately missed being able to see him, to touch him. This was almost worse than when I was playing hard-to-get.

The next few weeks went by painfully slowly. I did all I could to keep occupied and keep my mind off of Haru. But somehow, no matter what I did, there was a little nagging thought about him. Kagura and I joined a summer soccer team, which was fun but did nothing to take my mind off my boyfriend. Kagura was hopelessly bad at the game, but our teammates told me I was a really good player. Who knew? I started hanging out with a girl named Rika and a boy named Juurou that played on our team. Rika and Juurou were dating. One day after practice, Rika asked me;

"Hey Rin, why do you always seem like your mind is somewhere else? It's like you're never really with us unless we're playing a game." I was surprised she had noticed.

"My boyfriend is in the hospital. It's a little distracting."

"Dude, that's not cool." Juurou said sympathetically.

"Well, he should be out soon. He broke his leg in a car accident and he's been having therapy so he can get back on his feet. I talked to him the other day and he says he's walking again, but it's painful. He also isn't getting very far when he manages to get up. I feel really bad that I can't go see him very much…" Rika put her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't stress, Rin, it sounds like he'll be back in your arms soon." She winked as I blushed.

It turned out Rika was right. Haru called me about five days after the practice Rika had talked to me at, and told me he was coming home. Well, not home exactly, but to Shigure's house. That suited me just fine since it would be much easier to see him at Shigure's than in his room on the inside. Shigure was planning on throwing a big party for Haru at his house on the day of Haru's arrival. Everyone was invited to come. We were all going to surprise Haru when he arrived.

Which is why I found myself standing in front of my closet looking for something to wear to the party. I doubted Haru would care what I wore, but I wanted to leave an impression on him the first time he saw me since being in the hospital. Haru had told me a thousand times that I was beautiful no matter what I was wearing, but I could tell he liked certain things better than others. I decided to think about it while I was in the shower, since no inspiration was coming to me as I stared at the clothes in my closet.

I came up with the perfect outfit. Well, I liked it at least. After my shower I pulled on a pair of tight-ish black jeans and a silver camisole. Over the camisole I wore a red zip-front hoodie that had short sleeves. I paired a bunch of silver, black, and red bangle bracelets with the outfit. On my neck I wore a choker that had a silver and red star dangling from it. Finally, there were my black boots. I felt like, in this outfit, Haru wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off me. I allowed myself a small smile at the fact that he probably wouldn't have taken his eyes off me no matter what I'd worn.

Kagura and I drove over to Shigure's house around three o'clock. The party was going to start at four. The hour would give everyone time to arrive and hide so we could surprise Haru. I was excited to see Haru again. It had been several weeks since the charity show, which was the last time I talked to him in person. Talking to Haru over the phone did make things better, but I still longed to see him. I let Kagura drive as I stared out the window, thinking about what might happen at the party. Or rather, _after_ it.

Kagura pulled the car to a stop around the backside of Shigure's house. We got out of the car and headed for the front door.

"Hello Rin-san, Kagura-chan." We were greeted by Tohru. She let us in and led us into the kitchen.

"Shigure-san thought everyone should wait here in the kitchen until the party started." We nodded and walked over to where Kyo and Yuki were standing.

"This is so annoying!" Kyo was complaining. "I don't see why I have to miss going to the dojo just because Haru's coming back." Yuki shot Kyo a look.

"You had no choice. You still don't. Just keep quiet. Everyone will be a lot happier that way." Kyo continued to grumble, but Kagura chose that time to throw herself on him.

"Kyo-kun! It's been so long since we last saw each other! I would have been so upset if you'd gone to Shishou-san's instead of staying to see me."

"I'm not staying to see you!" Kyo yelled trying to shove Kagura off. "I'm staying because I apparently have no choice." I gave a small smile at their behavior.

"Well, at least Haru won't be bored." I said. Yuki turned to me.

"You have no idea." He deadpanned. "I don't understand why this was allowed. Everyone knows Shigure's house is no place to heal from an injury."

"I couldn't agree more, Yuki-kun." The pair of us turned around to see Hatori enter the kitchen. "I don't understand why Akito-san allowed this." Everyone bristled at the mention of Akito. Hatori waved his hand.

"Oh, don't worry. Akito-san won't be joining us for Haru's welcome back party." He said. It felt like the whole room let out a great sigh. I didn't hate Akito, but I definitely wasn't a big fan of his. I knew that Yuki and Kyo had big problems with the head of our family, so I supposed it was a good thing Akito decided not to come.

"Hatori-san," Yuki said. "Is my brother coming?"

"I suppose he is…" Hatori said apologetically as Yuki winced.

Ayame did show up. _Everyone_ showed up. It was like a big get-together with the zodiac members. Finally Shigure-ni, who had been unobtrusive until that point, came into the kitchen.

"Attention everyone!" He called over the conversation. We all quieted down quickly. "Haru should be arriving soon. Let's move into the living room where we can all find hiding places."

"Shigure-san," A cheerful voice said from the back of the room.

"Yes, Ayame-san?" Shigure answered just as cheerfully. I thought the pair of them were being quite childish. I wondered how Hatori had been able to put up with them.

"Mightn't Hatori-san, yourself, and I make it look like we're having a casual get-together in order to confuse young Hatsuharu?"

"What a splendid idea Ayame! Come everyone; let us head into the living room!" I rolled my eyes at Shigure and Ayame and followed everyone else into the living room. I watched Hiro and Kisa duck into a closet together, while Yuki shoved a complaining Kyo behind the TV. I thought I heard Kyo quiet down when Tohru came to hide behind the TV with him, but I wasn't sure. Yuki and I were the only ones not hiding, a part from Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori who were going to remain unhidden. I went to kneel behind the couch and Yuki sat down behind a chair. We were ready.

"Sensei," We heard Haru's voice call. I wasn't sure why Haru called Shigure Sensei, but I guess it worked. "Could you open the door for me?"

I heard Shigure stand up from the couch and open the front door for Haru.

"Hello Hatsuharu, how are you feeling?"

"Like my leg is made out of lead, but that's ok. I can walk now so I'm cool." Haru said as he entered the house. Haru entered and looked around at Hatori and Ayame.

"So you two are the only ones who came to see me, huh?" Haru asked. As if in answer, everyone jumped out of their hiding places and yelled;

"SURPRISE!" Haru's face broke into a huge smile when he saw everyone.

"Wow… that's just, wow. I didn't know you all missed me that much." He laughed and set his stuff down on a chair. Immediately after Haru got settled, Hatori came over to him and started to examine his leg. That was the first time I wondered why Haru had gone to a hospital instead of getting treatment from Hatori. I guess it was because Hatori spent most of his time with Akito, and Akito didn't like to part with Hatori for any length of time.

"They did as good as I could have done for you." Hatori said after a silence. We all cheered when Hatori gave his approval and the party began. Someone turned on some music and Tohru hurried into the kitchen to bring out platters of party foods. It was hard for me to stay away from Haru during the party, but I knew it was expected of me. I didn't join the crowd that formed around him offering food and asking how he felt.

Haru answered everyone's questions tiredly and accepted most of the food. I could tell he wasn't really in the mood for a party, although he was definitely happy to see us. I suppose everyone could tell that Haru was tired and soon Kagura and I were the only well-wishers left. I used Kagura's obsession with Kyo as cover for remaining there since we had ridden together. Haru wanted to move his stuff into his room. I offered to help because everyone else was tied up in their own conversations. But I saw Haru give Yuki a look and Yuki nodded. I guessed that meant Yuki was going to make sure we weren't bothered.

I carried Haru's bag and walked slowly behind him as he ambled forward on crutches. I found out later that it was still painful for Haru to walk when he didn't have to, so the doctors gave him the crutches. We walked into a small room that looked like it had been recently cleaned out. A futon was placed haphazardly in the middle of the room and furniture was pushed up against the wall. From the looks of it, Tohru had not set up the room for Haru. I could guarantee if she had done it everything would look a lot nicer.

I set Haru's bag down on a dresser in the corner of the room. I heard him sigh and turned around to see him sinking onto the futon.

"Those crutches are more tiring than I thought." He remarked, pushing his bangs out of his eyes in a gesture I found very alluring. It's funny how he could look so cute to me even though he was exhausted. Or perhaps, that's why he looked so cute.

"You've had a tiring day, as well." I replied quietly. Haru patted a spot on the futon next to him, telling me to come over. I did, but almost in a trance. I guess I was feeling like it was too good to be true. Haru was back and we were together again. When I sat down next to Haru, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I closed my eyes and leaned against his shoulder.

"Hey, Rin, are you ok?" I gave a small nod.

"Everything's sorta just going over my head right now. I'm not sure I really let myself believe you were hurt and now I'm feeling the denial." Haru kissed me gently.

"It's all gonna be ok now. I'll be fine, and we get to spend some time together." I opened my eyes and gave him a smile. I couldn't continue feeling distressed while I was with Haru. I would have time for that later.

"How's your summer been goin'?" Haru asked.

"Kagura and I joined a soccer team. I found that I have a knack for the game. I've started working a lot more, trying to raise money for college. Besides that I just worried about you."

"That's right," Haru said. "You'll be a senior next year. What'll I do without you when you go off to college?" I laughed.

"I doubt I'll be going anywhere. I'll stick around here since I don't really know what I want to do yet. I might go to a community college until I find something that interests me. I can't count on becoming a singer."

"I never got to tell you how much your song meant to me. That night after the show your song just kept playing over and over in my head. I must have written down the lyrics a hundred times trying to get it out of my mind. It drove me crazy having to think about you and not having a way to get to you." I tucked my hair behind my ear as I nodded.

"I understand that perfectly. I've missed you like crazy. I need you Haru, I can't imagine being without you." I closed my eyes again and snuggled closer to him. Haru chuckled.

"How badly did you wear yourself out by worrying over me?"

"Looks like a lot, I guess." I said smiling at him. I felt Haru's hand cup my cheek and he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against mine. I opened my eyes then to find him staring at me. I reached up and put my hand on his arm. Haru kissed me then, slowly and gently, telling me how much he felt for me and how much he'd missed me. I couldn't help myself after that. I lost it.

I could feel a stinging at the corners of my eyes and knew I was going to cry. I didn't want Haru to see that. I dropped my head and rested it against his chest, trying to hide my distress. Two tears managed to escape from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I pressed my cheek against Haru's chest, which was when he noticed something was wrong.

"Hey, hey Rin, what's up?" He asked gently, stroking my hair.

"Oh, Haru… it's all my fault. Everything… I'm the reason why you got hurt. That thought's been haunting me ever since you got put in the hospital. I'm so sorry…" I answered in a monotone.

"It's not your fault, Rin. Don't worry, everything's fine now. I never blamed you once for what happened. I'll be fine." Haru soothed me, his arms wrapped protectively around my shoulders.

He tried to pull away after I'd calmed down, but I found myself reaching out with my hands and pulling his face to my lips. We kissed again, and afterwards I felt much better. I felt as if pouring all my thoughts and worries out with Haru there had extracted some kind of poison from my body. I no longer felt tired, I no longer felt weak. I smiled, and threw my arms around him.

"Thank you, Haru. Thank you for being here for me." Haru smiled too.

"It's what I'm here for." I laughed, rubbing my eyes to rid myself completely of the salty feeling my tears had left.

"I must look awful." I said apologetically. Haru shrugged.

"Well," He began slowly. "I think you'd look better without this." And he proceeded to unzip the red hoodie I'd been wearing. I pushed him away playfully, shaking a finger at him.

"But Rin, you promised." Haru reminded me, acting like a pathetic little kid. I laughed, nodding.

"I guess I did." At that, Haru pulled me into his lap, ignoring the fact that he still had a cast on, and starting kissing my neck feverishly. I couldn't help but giggle and try to push his head away at the sudden sensation that coursed through my body when his lips touched my neck. But Haru would not be denied. He grabbed my wrists with his hands and continued to assault my neck.

Soon he placed both my wrists in one of his hands and started to try to pull my hoodie off again. He wasn't having much success one-handedly. The hoodie wouldn't have come off with my hands clasped in Haru's anyway. I laughed at his efforts, and gently tugged my wrists out of his hand. I shrugged the jacket off and smiled at him. Haru started to draw circles on my now bare shoulder with one of his fingertips. I watched him for awhile, but then grew tired of just observing. I raised my arms up, which made Haru sit up and look at me, and then buried my hands in Haru's soft, white hair. When my hands found their way to the base of Haru's neck, I pulled him forward into a kiss once again.

For the longest time we teased each other, exploring boundaries, and just simply enjoying the feeling of be able to touch each other once again. I sighed and pulled away from yet another kiss, and looked at my watch.

"Don't say it," Haru begged, knowing what was coming next.

"Kyo can only put up with Kagura's smothering for so long." I replied. We'd been in Haru's room for all of thirty minutes, but it felt like so much longer. And not long enough at the same time. I scooted myself out of Haru's lap, conscious of his injured leg, and stood up. Haru picked up my hoodie for me and handed it to me after standing up himself. I took it from him slowly, as if to prolong our time together. We stood facing each other silently for… well it felt like forever. Then I suddenly threw myself into Haru's arms, hugging him tightly.

"I love you." I muttered into his chest. Haru smiled and stroked my hair once again.

"I love you too, Rin." He replied, giving me a gentle squeeze. Then we walked out of his room and back to join the others. We were met with the sight of a very pissed off Kyo who was being hung on by Kagura.

"Haru you bastard," He growled, glaring. "You couldn't have unpacked a _little_ faster?" Haru chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, acting all apologetic.

"Sorry Kyo." I turned my eyes to Kagura and looked at her very pointedly.

"Kagura, won't you stop hanging on Kyo now? We need to go." Kagura looked disappointed as she unwrapped her arms from around Kyo's neck.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the dojo, Kyo-kun!" she called back to the orange-haired boy. I glanced back for a look at Kyo's face. He looked like Kagura's words were his death sentence. With that, Kagura and I climbed into my car and drove back home.

AN: Well, I hope having Rin cry wasn't too OoC for her. I just thought that going through something like that would be stressful and that Rin should get a chance to have a little outburst. Yeah, that's it! And it's cute how Haru comforted her too. n.n Anyways, I need to decide if I wanna make this story longer or find a way to end it. Once I figure out my plan, I'll start writing chapter 10. Hugs to all my readers!

Disclaimers: I don't own Leann Rimes song 'I Need You' or Fruba.


	10. Chapter 10

_Kokoro wa –hashiru- ano sora no shita. Karamawari suru kimochi ga sakebi dasu no o tomerarenai. Kimi made –todoke- kitto ato sukoshi. Atsuku hizashi ga terasu kono michi no mukou. READY STEADY GO!_

_My heart -runs- underneath that sky. I can't stop my idle feelings from crying out. Surely I'll -reach- you in a little while. The sunlight shines hotly across this path. READY STEADY GO!_

L'Arc-En-Ciel 'Ready, Steady, Go'

2nd opening theme to FullMetal Alchemist

Chapter 10

I spent the next few weeks mostly over at Shigure's house. Haru called every time Kyo and Tohru, at least, went out. It seemed to be happening an awful lot, and while it really wasn't any of my business what was going on with them, it made me smile to know that perhaps Kyo had found the same happiness Haru and I had. I thought it proved, in some way, that the members of the zodiac aren't really cursed unless they choose to believe so.

Haru and I wiled away the hours we spent together by playing card games, board games, and just learning more about each other. I had never realized there was a part of Haru I didn't know. I'd heard the rumors about Haru's 'black' side, but never heard Haru himself talk about it. But Haru confided in me that he thought, even if he was on the verge of going black, if I was there he wouldn't be able to do it. In return for this story about his other side, I told Haru about how I had come to live with Kagura. Not many people knew about this, especially because it seemed to be going on for so long many had started to forget that I had once lived with my own parents.

Shigure and Yuki made themselves scarce while I was around. I knew that it was because they wanted to give us privacy, but I wouldn't have minded some company from time to time. I thought Haru felt the same way too. Which was why, one day, even though Tohru and Kyo were still in the house, Haru told me to come over.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked, twisting the phone cord around my finger.

"Let's face it," Haru replied from the other line, "Even though Kyo and Tohru aren't here when you are, they still _know_ you're coming here. I think_ Kyo's_ even gotten it figured out. And I'm pretty sure Tohru's known it all along. She gets people like that. I think that's why she and Kyo work so well together." I found I couldn't argue with Haru's logic, so I grabbed my purse and told him I'd be over in a few minutes.

* * *

_How_ I now wonder, did I manage to get myself into such a mess? I should have seen it coming, I really should have, but I didn't. I could have said no, but at the time it seemed like a lot of fun. But I knew it was coming, the question everyone was sitting there, staring at me, waiting for me to answer. 

'Truth or Dare?' Such a childish game. But, Shigure had mentioned it as he passed through the living room on his way back to his office, and Haru had insisted we played. The question had gone around the circle a few times before finally landing on me. Without thinking, I had picked truth. And Kyo had asked;

"What's really goin' on with you and Haru, huh? I mean, we all have our ideas, but tell us the truth." I glanced nervously over at Haru, who looked like he was amused by the question, and encouraged me to answer with a nod. I thought it over for a few moments and realized, what would be the harm in telling them? I mean, Yuki already knew and if I was right about Tohru and Kyo, they were doing the same thing as I was with Haru. I wouldn't have minded telling him, if I didn't feel so on-the-spot. I had never thought of myself as a person who wouldn't want to discuss their love-life with (sort-of) friends until then. I guess what really bothered me was the circumstances in which the question was asked. But I tried to play it cool.

"I thought it was obvious." I said shrugging. "Normal boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, same as you I suppose. Only, I guess not, since Tohru's not in the zodiac." Everyone except Kyo laughed. I smiled at the look on Kyo's red face. Tohru looked a bit pink too, but she was doing a good job of laughing it off.

"You've got no right to talk about stuff like that." Kyo said as calmly as possible.

"What? You've got the right to make speculations about my and Haru's relationship, but I can't make them about your's and Tohru's? That seems kinda childish to me, Kyo-san."

"This whole thing is childish!" he half-yelled, half-muttered. Everyone giggled again, knowing he meant the game.

"It's your turn Isuzzu-san" Yuki told me. I nodded and looked around the circle at the possible people I could ask the question to.

Tohru was smiling calmly, but still looking a little flustered by my earlier statement. Kyo was still steaming a bit, but I knew he'd get over in it a few minutes. Yuki was sitting patiently, waiting for the next question to fall, looking like he really wouldn't mind if it was him it fell on. And then there was Haru. Everything I wanted to know about him I knew already, and it didn't seem practical to ask my boyfriend 'Truth or Dare?' anyway.

"Yuki," I finally decided, "Truth or Dare?" I had no idea what I would dare Yuki to do if he picked dare, but I assumed he would pick truth and had a question picked out for him already. Yuki shrugged and said lightly;

"Truth."

"Who is the girl I saw you with at the ramen house? Not the loud one with black hair, the quiet one; the one you sat next to." To my astonishment, Yuki's cheeks had turned a light pink as he figured out who I meant. I had just wondered who she was because I'd seen her around school often with Yuki. It appeared I had struck something deeper than just a friendship between them.

"Her name is Machi Kuragi; she's the first year treasurer for the Student Council. She's… she's becoming a close friend of…mine." Yuki trailed off, shrugging.

"Looks like Yuki's got the hots for her." Haru said carelessly.

"I never said that!" Yuki retorted indignantly.

"Yeah, well, seeing your blush when Rin asked about her, along with your denial that she's more that just a friend to you makes it a little suspicious don't you think?"

"Haru, knock it off." I mumbled. "I never meant to embarrass you Yuki-kun." I said, so Yuki, who was sitting across the table from me, could hear. "I honestly just wondered who she was because I've seen her around y—…I mean around school a lot." I had finally started to get along with Yuki, started to realize why so many people liked him. It was a rocky, sort-of friendship and I didn't want to ruin it. Yuki was an important person in Haru's life and I wanted to make sure I was at peace with him.

There was an awkward silence before Tohru said, cheerily;

"It's your turn Yuki-kun."

"Right, of course…" Yuki said nodding. "Haru…. Truth or Dare?"

"I think I'll make things interesting and go with dare." Haru replied. Yuki glanced over to the rest of us, clearly not knowing what to dare Haru to do. I sat there quietly, knowing that Haru's dare could very well end up involving me. However, I knew also that if the dare came from Yuki alone it wouldn't. If Kyo helped come up with the dare, it probably would.

"What do you guys think?" Yuki asked, his eyes looking at each of us in turn. There was the usually murmur of classic dares, such as running around the house naked, but no one really thought something like that would bother Haru. He sat there smiling smugly at the fact that no one could think of a dare good, or rather _bad_, enough for him. We all sat there in silence for a long time, until Kyo burst out;

"Just make him kiss his girlfriend and get it over with!" Yuki shrugged. Haru smirked.

"Is that the best you can come up with, Kyo?"

"No, this is just taking too long." The cat replied evenly.

"Oh, but I think it would be more amusing to have Haru-chan blow a raspberry on Rin-chan's stomach." Shigure's voice said, making us all jump.

"Warn us next time you decide to sneak up like that!" Kyo yelled. We all laughed at that. Yuki looked over his shoulder at Shigure.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Since Kyo said 'just make him kiss his girlfriend and get it over with.'"

The whole time Yuki and Kyo were distracted by Shigure, I was sitting there with a light blush creeping into my face. I wondered if Haru was really going to do that. And then I wondered, would I really mind if he did? I was brought back to the present by Kyo yelling;

"Where do you even _come up_ with dares like that!?"

"My dear Kyo-kun, Ayame and I spent endless summer days playing 'Truth or Dare?' with our many female friends. We've come up with everything. Unfortunately, Hatori-san never consented to play with us."

"I wonder why?" Yuki, asked rhetorically, shaking his head. Shigure turned to Haru and me.

"Anyway, you guys up for it?" he asked jovially.

"You're one perverted bastard." Haru replied incredulously. Shigure laughed.

"Yes, yes, Tori-san always told me that. But that's not the point." Haru shook his head.

"I guess if Rin's ok with it, I don't mind doing it." He said finally. I felt everyone's eyes turn to me, waiting for _my _decision.

Displaying weakness was something I never liked to do. I didn't do it often, and when I did I was usually alone. I felt pathetic the few times I did. Only two people had ever seen me cry, and they were Haru and Kagura. No one had ever seen me back out of any seemingly difficult task. So, naturally, there was no way I was going to give in on this one. Never, especially not in front of all these people, who's opinions I'd come to respect.

"Get on with it, then." I said, smiling as everyone half-cheered, half-gasped. Haru scooted closer to me and I leaned back on my arms to give him better access to my stomach. He pushed the fabric of my T-shirt off my midsection and I felt Goosebumps there immediately. Haru lowered his head and his lips touched my stomach. I hoped he was the only one who'd noticed me twitch. He pressed his lips against my skin and blew.

I let out a little gasp that must have sounded a lot like a giggle because as Haru rose up, he gave me an amused look. Everyone was laughing appreciatively, but quieted down as Haru spoke.

"You're ticklish." He said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"And, if I am?" I asked, pulling my shirt back into position.

"Oh…nothing." Haru replied mysteriously. I made a mental note to make sure I remembered that Haru knew I was ticklish.

We played 'Truth or Dare?' for about an hour more, the next exciting thing to happen was Haru's dare to Kyo.

"You want me to do _what_?!" Kyo spluttered.

"Well why not? You've pretty much told us all that you and Tohru are going out, so why won't you kiss her?"

"Um… Haru-kun?" Tohru said quietly. "You see… Kyo-kun doesn't want to kiss me now because… we've never kissed before."

"Tohru…" Kyo whispered, but we all heard him nonetheless. The girl shrugged.

"Are you… are you up to our first kiss Kyo-kun?" she asked calmly, though I could tell she was nervous by the way she repeated her first two words. A few seconds later, Kyo nodded.

I suddenly felt like we were doing something dirty. Other people are not meant to intervene on first kisses. And they're definitely not supposed to force them to happen. For a couple, a first kiss is almost something sacred. Even if it's not the person's first ever kiss, the first kiss with a new person and in a new relationship is _very _important. I had a feeling that neither Tohru nor Kyo had ever kissed someone before. And that made me feel like what we were doing was even worse.

"No," I said quickly, as Kyo turned to face Tohru.

"Something wrong?" Kyo asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes," I replied. "It's wrong of us to make you have your first kiss in front of us. It… it would be different if you guys were like me and Haru. But, your relationship is just starting. It's not right for other people to make you speed your relationship up just for their amusement. I know that wasn't what Haru meant to do, but I can't let you go through with it now that we've found out…"

Tohru smiled. She turned to me and gave me a hug.

"Thank you, Rin-chan." She said. And I now realized that Tohru had never wanted to do the dare in the first place. She just hadn't wanted to let Haru down. I looked around at the rest of the circle.

"Well said," Yuki nodded, smiling. Kyo looked as if he had just been saved from cutting off his own finger... or something like that. Finally I turned to Haru, to whom I'd never spoken of my true thoughts of first kisses. Haru was giving me a bemused look, and then he was suddenly kissing me.

"What was that?" Kyo asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

"I never knew you felt so strongly about things like that." Haru said as he pulled away. "And I love you all the more for your opinion."

I laughed. And as I laughed, I saw everyone's faces break into smiles, and finally heard their laugher join mine. The tense moment was over. As our laugher died down, I heard Yuki say, still smiling;

"I'll always bear in mind what a first kiss means to a girl now."

After that, our game kind of died down. No one really wanted to play anymore, and no one wanted to make another mistake like the one Haru had unknowingly made. I decided it was time for me to go when Tohru started talking about making dinner. I found I didn't want to bother her with making more food for my sake. Even though she said it was no trouble, I insisted that I would leave, and perhaps join them all for dinner another night. While Kyo and Yuki followed Tohru into the kitchen to help with dinner, Haru walked me to the door.

"I'm getting my cast off this Friday." he told me. "You should come, be there, you know?" I shook my head.

"That's not a good idea. We've risked too much all ready. Remember when this started we said we'd tell no one but the people we trusted? Now this whole house knows. Yes, I know it's because of me, and I don't care if they know because they're hiding from Akito as much as we are. But if I'm present at something as special as your cast being removed, someone will get suspicious." Haru sighed.

"I understand. But what if I got Hatori to do it here? I'm supposed to go back to the hospital, but Hatori's told me that taking the cast off won't take very long. He said he could probably do it instead of the doctor."

"Well… well I guess that might be alright. Give me some time and I'll think about it, and let you know on Thursday." I figured, since it was only Tuesday, nearly two days would give me enough time to think.

"Will you still come over tomorrow?" Haru asked hopefully.

"Of course!" I said laughing. "I mean it's not like you just proposed to me. I wouldn't miss seeing you tomorrow for the world." Haru smiled, and kissed me before opening the door and watching me leave.

AN: I debated for a long time about what song to use at the beigining of this chapter. I hesitated about using 'Ready, Steady, Go', but now I'm glad I did. The song is more for Kyo's and Tohru's developing relationship, and Yuki's possible relationship, than the whole Haru and Rin thing. Anyway, I think I'll only write a few more chapters before I end it, since I know how I want this story to end. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!

Disclaimers: I don't own Fruits Basket, the song 'Ready, Steady, Go', or FullMetal Alchemist.


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning: **This chapter has sexual refrences and _major_ fluff. If you don't like it, don't read, and I will gladly summerize the chapter without it for you if you PM me.

Chapter 11

_Everything I am, and everything in me, wants to be the one you wanted me to be. I'd never let you down, even if I could. I'd give up everything, if only for your good. So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong. Hold me when I'm scared…_

-'Love Me When I'm Gone' Three Doors Down

I went over to Shigure's again the next day. The first thing Haru told me was that Hatori had agreed to take his cast off at the house. I tried to be excited for him, but I was a little uneasy. I wasn't entirely sure if I really wanted to be there. Would it be a happy occasion or just business-like? I mean, of course I was glad that Haru would be getting full use of his leg soon, but I also knew there would be more treatment to follow. He'd have to go back to a physical therapist and probably have a special doctor treat his skin since it'd been trapped in a cast for so long. Not only that, but he'd most likely still have to use a brace of some kind. Haru was far from healed.

However, despite all these thoughts, I was able to be honestly happy when Haru announced the news. Haru's emotions always seem to pass themselves on to me these days. And since Haru was ecstatic, I couldn't be moody. Even the other members of Shigure's household seemed eager for the next day to come. Although I'd come to enjoy the company of Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo, I was quite happy when they all left and I was allowed to talk to Haru privately.

The pair of us went to Haru's room, and I noticed how easy walking with the cast had become for him. He led the way as I drifted behind, lost in my thoughts as I had been for the past few hours. The absence of Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo made it worse; there wasn't as much for me to concentrate on and keep my thoughts at bay. When I'd finally entered the room, Haru was sitting on his futon waiting for me.

"C'mere, Rin." He said, reaching his hand out for mine. I took his hand and he pulled me down to sit next to him. I let Haru arrange my body in his lap and when he was still, waited for him to start speaking.

"You've been acting different." He noted, and I nodded.

"I've had a lot on my mind." I agreed.

"I didn't know that this whole thing with my leg had you so bothered. When I met you I never would have guessed you would react this way." I looked up at Haru and it made me feel guilty to see the look in his eyes. He blamed himself for my issues.

"Haru, if it was anyone else I really wouldn't give a damn." I told him. "But since it's you I don't want to screw up. It was already my fault you got hurt to start with, and I don't want to get you in trouble by being at something I shouldn't. What if someone finds out?" Haru sighed.

"You don't have to come, I won't be angry with you, ya know? It's not exactly a romantic date anyway." He grinned at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, well, you haven't exactly taken me on a date to begin with, much less a romantic one. Not that it really matters. All I need to have a good time is to be with you. The times we've spent here have been some of the most fun I've ever had." I fell silent for a moment, thinking. "But I've decided I will come tomorrow. All the excuses I've come up with for not going all seem stupid whenever I think about how much this means to you, and how much you mean to me. If you want me there, I'll be there."

Haru wrapped his arm around me and started playing with my hair, which was currently in a pony-tail. I couldn't help but smile as my hair was lifted and then fell back against my neck in a way that almost tickled.

"Thank you," Haru said, before pressing his lips to the skin on the nape of my neck. I couldn't help but shiver as his lips touched my skin. I was getting more and more used to his touch everyday, but the things he could do to me never seemed to change. I bent my neck to give him better access and sighed contentedly as Haru's breath fell across my skin.

"I've been thinking," I began hesitantly, not sure if I wanted to go through with what I was going to say.

"Hmm?" was all Haru answered, preoccupied with nuzzling my neck. I laughed.

"Haru, stop it, I'm serious!" I said, trying to push his head away.

"So am I." He replied, nipping my skin affectionately.

I all but melted in his lap. I had no idea why I was reacting this way, but I guessed it was because he'd never done this before. Of all the things to _not _have done. Haru had kissed me in ways that no one should ever describe, but he'd never attempted to give me a hickey. I almost laugh now, thinking back on it. It seemed so innocent after all that happened. I shivered as Haru alternately nipped and kissed my neck, finding myself pushing his head closer to me. I was almost dizzy with passion by the time Haru slowed down to a point that I thought he was finished. He concluded his little activity by trailing his tongue from the center of my neck to the point right behind my ear.

That sent new shivers down my spine and I turned in his lap and kissed his mouth fully, almost desperately. I ended it slowly, savoring the feel of his lips on mine, even though I frequently felt it those days.

"We really need to stop doing that." I said my chest flush with his.

"What?" Haru asked in a husky voice. I tapped his cheek in a playful chiding manner.

"Turning our serious conversations into make-out sessions, that's what!"

"It helps me forget what we were talking about." Haru replied, his eyes twinkling with humor. I knew he really didn't do things like that to forget about what we talked about. He did it to try and relieve awkward situations in the only way he knew how. I didn't mind, but the thing I'd actually wanted to talk to him about that time hadn't been something upsetting. This time, though, I decided to just put my thoughts into action instead of talking to Haru.

I scooted off my boyfriend's lap, I still feel weird calling him that, and moved behind him.

"What're you up to, Rin?" He asked, turning his head to look at me.

"It's a surprise." I replied, laughing. "All you have to do is sit there like a good little boy." Haru raised an eyebrow, but turned back around to face the door into his room.

I wrapped my arms around Haru's chest, my arms snaking under his. My hands started to move of their own accord and they began to trail up and down Haru's chest.

"You've got muscles." I commented, even though I knew it was stupid.

"You just now noticed?" Haru said, laughing a bit breathlessly. Of course I'd noticed before—his muscle shirts didn't leave much to the imagination—but this was the first time I'd ever really given it thought. I must have felt it before, all the times he'd hugged me and leaned me against his chest, but I really hadn't thought about it before now. Oh well, you know what they say: seeing is believing. Or perhaps, for me, _touching_.

For awhile I just sat there with my hands on Haru's chest while breathing in his comforting scent. I wondered if he used cologne. It seemed entirely unfair for someone to smell so appealing so effortlessly. I laid my cheek against Haru's back and closed my eyes, savoring the contact between his body and mine.

"You know," Haru said quietly, "you can really drive a guy crazy like that." I blushed.

"I didn't mean to—" He chuckled and shook his head, his chest moving beneath my hands.

"Crazy in a you-don't-wanna-know-what-I'm-thinking-right-now way."

"Perv," I replied, but squeezing Haru's body tighter even as I said it.

"Maybe when it comes to you." He said, and I could almost see the twinkle in his eyes.

"Do tell," I laughed, shaking my head. "Honestly the things you say to me…" Haru laughed too.

"If you think that's bad, you don't _want _me to tell you what I've been thinking." I shrugged, returning to my previous activity of stroking his chest. Up and down, up and down they went, until I encountered the hem of his shirt. _If it feels this good over his shirt, what would it feel like under it? _I wondered, having a dirty thought myself.

But I really wanted to find out. I probably could have waited until another, more convenient time. Like casually asking him if he wanted to go to the pool after he got his cast off. However, something burned in me that gave me the courage to slide my hands under Haru's shirt. My cool hands plastered themselves to his hot chest and began moving around hungrily. Haru let his breath out in a slow hiss when I began to explore the contours of his bare chest.

Before I knew what had happened, Haru had pulled me back around his body and back into his lap with his shirt riding up his chest so that his stomach was exposed. I pulled my hands away, fearing I'd gone too far. But with Haru it seemed, 'too far' wasn't part of his vocabulary. I soon found myself lying on his bare chest, his shirt now in some distant corner of the room, forgotten.

"Haru," I said my voice somehow pleading and cautious at the same time.

"I know, don't worry." He replied. With one hand he toyed with the ends of my pony-tail and the other rested on my hip in an almost suggestive way.

I pulled myself away from him then, sitting up and moving towards the door.

"I'll be right back," I promised, and then fled for the bathroom. When I arrived, I splashed cold water on my face and tried to regulate my breathing. That had been the most intense situation I'd ever been in. And while it both scared and excited me, I knew we couldn't do it again. There was too much at stake for us to go any further. I knew Haru knew that, but I also knew that emotions are hard to control sometimes. Hadn't I just been the one to cause all that to happen? I sighed and returned to Haru's bedroom.

Haru was sitting up on the futon with his shirt back on.

"I'm sorry," He said, "I shouldn't have done that."

"Let's not talk about it." I replied. "What's done is done, and we can't change it with words. We just have to make sure nothing _more _than that happens." Haru nodded. "On that note, I think I should go home for today. I owe it to Kagura and her mom. I've been missing from the house for too long." Thankfully, Haru agreed with me and helped me gather my things. By the time we'd left his room, there was no trace of the things that had occurred on either of our faces.

The next day dawned rainy and humid. I sighed and grumbled to myself as I woke up. Last night had been just shy of a disaster, in my opinion. I felt so awful for staying away from Kagura's for so long; when you're in love it can make you very preoccupied. It's almost like being on drugs. When am I going to be with him again, where will we be, and what will we do? I felt achy and drained from what had happened between Haru and me the night before. I passed Kagura on the way to the bathroom and muttered another apology. Kagura smiled kindly.

"I told you not to worry about it, Rin. Things happen. Mom understands too, though she doesn't know what's going on."

I took a shower and got dressed, and then made myself eat breakfast with Kagura and her mom before taking off to Shigure's again. I heard Kagura's mom make a comment as I left.

"Rin-chan spends a lot of time over at Shigure-san's house. I wonder what has started to compel her to go over there…"

"Who knows," Kagura replied. "Maybe she and Shigure are back on speaking terms and they're doing some sibling-ish stuff. It's kinda like how Ayame-san gets with Yuki-kun; once he starts it takes Hatori to stop him." I left after Kagura finished talking. I didn't want to make myself feel anymore guilty.

When I arrived at Shigure's everyone was in a high state of alertness. That's the only way I can explain it. The air buzzed with anxiousness and anticipation. I guessed everyone thought I was Hatori when they heard my car pull up. I joined Haru and Tohru on the couch to wait as the tension in the air filled me too. I reached for Haru's hand and found it gratefully. He gripped as hard as I did.

Finally, with a crunch of gravel, Hatori pulled up in his sleek black car. He walked up the path with a medical bag in his hand. There was no need for him to ring the bell; Tohru had already opened the door before he'd made it halfway up the path.

"Don't be so grim." Hatori said with his usual vacant smile. That was easy for him to say. He'd seen plenty of broken limbs and knew what to expect when the cast came off. The rest of us didn't.

Hatori instructed Haru to lie on the couch and made the rest of us stand behind it. He dug around in his bag and pulled out a mini-saw looking thing. My stomach made a funny lurch when I saw it. I told myself to trust Hatori, but that thing looked sharp. I don't remember now, but I think I closed my eyes when Hatori finally lowered the saw to Haru's cast. I heard the noise of the blade cutting through the plaster, but I don't remember seeing it fall away. The next thing I _do _remember is Hatori quietly announcing;

"It's done."

My eyes were drawn to Haru's leg. The skin that was beneath the cast looked pale and wrinkly, like an old person's skin. I recalled Hatori saying something about his leg 'pruning' like people's hands did when they spent too much time in the water. The moisture in the cast made Haru's skin very damp. In reality, Hatori said, the skin would eventually get very dry and Haru would have to use a special lotion on it.

Hatori left a brace and the bottle of prescription lotion with Haru and then, to everyone's surprise, beckoned to me. I followed the doctor into the kitchen, where he closed the doors and gave me a serious look.

"Now that Haru is able to move freely, Akito will want him back in the main house." He told me. "You will no longer be able to see him as much as you do now."

"Shigure you bastard." I muttered to myself, for it had obviously been him that told Hatori what was going on between us.

"No, it wasn't Shigure who told me. I figured it out on my own. I was in a… similar situation." The doctor replied and I recalled the conversation I'd had with Shigure about Hatori and Kanna.

"I'm sorry, Hatori-sama. I'll be careful." I promised. I could tell it gave Hatori joy to see me and Haru together and I didn't want him to see us ripped apart by Akito. Having it happen to yourself is one thing, but seeing it happen _again _to someone else would torture him.

"Good night, Isuzu-san." Hatori replied, slipping out of the kitchen and then out the door before Shigure could get to him. I wandered back into the living room after a few minutes, giving my mind time to digest what Hatori had just said to me. Akito would be expecting Haru to visit. Akito would _take over _Haru for several days. The thought sickened me. I felt safe in knowing that, at least, Haru wouldn't have to worry about me. Akito never requested to see _me_.

When I entered the living room at last, Haru was sitting on the couch waiting for me. I noticed he hadn't put the brace Hatori had left on yet. Haru noticed me looking at it and said;

"Could you help me with that? Everyone else ran off after Hatori took you to the kitchen." I nodded and picked the brace up off the floor. I knelt down beside Haru's leg, but didn't put the brace on right away.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"A hell of a lot better now that that cast's off. That thing was so damn itchy and sweaty!" I couldn't help but laugh at Haru's comments. I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, and I let him do so gratefully.

I got the brace around Haru's leg and started to tighten the Velcro around his foot and lower leg. I was barely paying attention to what I was doing or where I was until I felt Haru's free leg twitch slightly. I looked up to see that Haru's face was slightly red and he was looking down at me with a heated gaze. I felt my own cheeks warm up when I realized what was getting him worked up. Instead of moving away, which would have been the smartest course of action, I laid my head down on his lap. I felt him tense immediately, but I noticed that he didn't move away. But then, why would he?

I closed my eyes and let my hands rest on top of Haru's thigh. I knew I was torturing the poor guy, but I was tired and comfortable. This whole ordeal had really worn me out. Haru put his hands on top of mine and I could feel how hard he was working to keep control. I felt him twitch every so often and his hand tightened on mine.

"I can move if you want me to." I said, feeling uncomfortable that I was _making_ him uncomfortable. I could see him shake his head, but I ignored him. I pulled myself off the floor and onto the couch, where I sprawled myself across his lap, resting my head against his neck and shoulder.

"That's hardly better." I heard him say, and I supposed he was right. If my breath on his neck had the same affect as his on mine, I was pretty much driving him crazy once more.

"I'm sorry… I'm being careless, I'm just really tired for no reason right now. And I want to be with you…" My eyes closed again and I failed to finish my sentence.

"Don't worry about it, just sleep." And for once, I listened to him.

AN: Yeah so… a lot of random fluff in this chapter. I don't really know where it came from, but I just went with it. I'm getting braver with the fluff nowadays. I'm sorry if this story is getting a little angst-y. I'm also sorry (again) if the sexual references made you uncomfortable. That kinda popped out of nowhere too. Finally, I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. However, the story is nearly over, so you won't have to wait much longer. I figure two or three more chapters should finish it up.

Disclaimer: Should be fairly obvious by now, I don't own the magna or the song.


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